


My Always and Forever

by DayDreamerr27



Category: Harry Potter - Fandom
Genre: F/M, Fluff, George and Hermione, Hogwarts, M/M, Order of the Phoenix - Freeform, half blood prince, slowburn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:47:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 30
Words: 75,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27055168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DayDreamerr27/pseuds/DayDreamerr27
Summary: George knew that he had a hard time placing the smell of mint from the love potion... it was a strange and strong smelling mint that he couldn't place until the curly-haired Gryffindor laughed when he was leaning in close to his face. The smell of spearmint but not the natural kind. The kind that came out of that muggle tube that Hermione always rubbed on her teeth. it came washing over him and made him lost in thought. He looked at Fred and whispered, "Mint, Freddie. It's mint."This is my mainly George and Hermione fan fiction that begins with Order of the Phoenix timeline and I'm not sure when it'll end. I hope you enjoy! I've also posted this on FanFiction.net so if you've read it there it's me just on another sight.
Relationships: Angelina Johnson/Fred Weasley, Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger/George Weasley, Neville Longbottom/Luna Lovegood
Comments: 4
Kudos: 79





	1. No. 12 Grimmauld Place

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone who may be reading this! I hope you enjoy and please keep in mind I'm not a professional writer, I just like to do this for fun.  
> I do not own any of the characters obviously. I just love the twins and wish to see them happy.

Chapter One:

Hermione POV:

There were very few places in the world where Hermione felt completely safe and protected. Surrounded by her favorite wizard family with flaming red hair was one of those few places. She was thankful that her mother allowed her to spend part of her Summer holiday with the Weasley’s. It wasn’t like last year where she stayed to go to the Quidditch World Cup at the Burrow. That seemed like worlds away now.

That was before You-Know-Who returned.

That was before Cedric Diggory was murdered at Hogwarts.

She was admiring the comforting feeling that the people around her brought to this damp and dusty place. The Weasleys’ somehow breathed life into anywhere they were. Ronald and Ginny were busy playing Wizards Snap Infront of a roaring fire in the living room. The twins were enjoying messing with Crookshanks with the muggle toys that Hermione had packed for her cat. The room was filled with soft music that was playing from a record player in the corner of the room, something that was from the muggle world but enchanted to magically switch vinyl records as a side was finished so one didn’t have to get up and change the music.

Although the children were filled with life and messing around in the living room, they knew they were missing out on vital information from the closed door in the room down the hallway. The Order was meeting again.

“Deep in thought, Hermione?” George teased as he plopped next to her and looked at the book she was reading. “It can’t possibly be about Hogwarts a History. This copy looks like it’s going to fall apart.”

She rolled her eyes. “If you must know, I was deep in thoughts unrelated to the book. However, this book is falling apart because it’s a fascinating and comforting read that I like to return to now and again.”

Fred apparated to be behind her and he snatched the book from her hand. “I don’t think I’ve ever read this. Even when I was supposed to in my first year.”

The girl snatched her book back from his hands. “That explains a lot.”

“Does it?” Fred challenged. “I would argue that Georgie and I know that school better than you like the back of our hand.”

“We do have a rather lot of experience running away from Filch and Mrs. Norris. We know all of the secret passageways.”

Ronald spoke up. “A lot of that is thanks to the map. Harry has that now.”

“Our success isn’t part of the map… sure we started off that way.” Fred began.

“But how do you explain us not getting caught still after giving him that map years ago?” George wiggled his eyebrows and leaned his head against the velvet sofa.

“I’m still mad you didn’t give me the map. I was in school at the time. I could’ve snuck off to Hogsmeade with that.” Ginny frowned and swiftly took victory over the hand of Wizards Snap which made Ron grunt in frustration and demand a rematch.

“Mum would’ve killed us.” George laughed.

“Why am I going to kill you?” Molly Weasley asked. She was looking rather stressed out and skinny. She had lost weight since they all moved into the old Black household. “Besides all of the wand waving that’s been driving me mad. What else do I have to worry about?”

“Nothing mum!” Fred popped up and gave his mother a kiss on the cheek. “We are perfect angels of course!”

George did the same, jumping up and kissing his mother’s other cheek. “It’s why we are your favorite children of course! Out of all the lot.”

Mrs. Weasley rolled her eyes and shooed them away. “Thank you, boys, but I’ve known you for your entire lives and I know when you’re up to something.” She rolled up her sleeves. “I’m going to begin making sandwiches for lunch. I will call you all in once they’re finished.”

Hermione put down her book looking at the dark circles under the kind mother’s eyes. “Mrs. Weasley?”

“Yes, dear?” Molly smiled at Hermione. Their relationship had improved significantly from last year. Molly did not like her at all last year since she had believed all of the foul things that Rita Skeeta had written about the young girl. Now, she was watching over her like she was one of her own.

“Would you like a hand?” She got up from the green, velvet sofa and walked over to the women.

Mrs. Weasley looked like she could cry with the kind gesture. She had been under so much stress and was remaining as the strong mother figure of the family, taking care of everyone but herself. “I would appreciate that, Hermione. I would appreciate that very much.”

George POV:

He felt guilty that he hadn’t offered to help his mother make the sandwiches. How hard could it be honestly? He had a lot of respect for the younger Gryffindor girl. She was doing everything in her power to help the Weasleys’ out and whenever they told her she didn’t have to, Hermione would remind them that they were taking care of her and it’s what family does.

Ronald seemed to beam anytime she would mention that.

Now, he wasn’t even aware that she had left the room. He was so thick sometimes when it came to her. She clearly liked him by the way she festered over his appearance and habits. It reminded him of how his mother took care of others, making sure they were okay.

Mrs. Weasley and Hermione had been spending a lot of time together this Summer when the Order was not meeting. They were cleaning and cooking for the lot of people that were in the house. Ginny loved being able to get out of chores whenever she could, so she was grateful for Hermione.

After a while, Hermione came back into the living room. “Lunch is ready!” She smiled at the others.

“Good news. I’m starving.” Ron hoped up and stretched his arms before rubbing his stomach. “What are the sides?”

Hermione raised an eyebrow. “You’re welcome for helping prepare the meal, Ron. I know that’s what you meant to say—thanks Hermione! I’m so happy your mom and yourself were kind enough to provide lunch for everyone.” She rolled her eyes and walked into the kitchen with Ron trailing behind her.

“Well no one asked you to make the food.” He huffed before slumping into one of the wooden chairs that were crammed around the long table.

Fred laughed. “You’re digging yourself into a hole, mate.”

George added. “It’s best to stop while you’re already in the hole. But I suppose if you want to keep digging you could use this spoon as a shovel?” He tossed the silver spoon towards his brother who caught it before sinking it into the pudding that was sitting in front of him.

“Honestly, it’s like his brain is driven by food.” Ginny laughed while she grabbed a turkey sandwich from the middle of the table. “Thank you, mum and Hermione. Everything looks great.”

George smiled and gave his mother a kiss on the cheek before sinking into one of the wooden chairs. “Really it looks great! Thanks!”

Fred looked at Hermione. “Georgie… I think you forgot to give Hermione her kiss as well.” He jumped up. “I got it for you!”

Hermione dodged out of the way while her face turned into a dangerous red color from blushing. “No really… that’s fine! A verbal thank you is fine, Fred.”

Fred snapped his finger. “Rats. I thought that’s how you thanked everyone… no wonder Oliver Wood is always so confused when I thank him after Quidditch practice for being a great captain.”

Ginny choked on her pumpkin juice as she laughed at the image of Fred kissing Oliver’s cheek after Quidditch. “I would pay to see that.” She said after she composed herself again.

Mum was shaking her head when Sirius and Remus appeared for lunch. “Sandwiches, pudding, and salad for lunch today. I’ll have it all cleared for the Order meeting later today. Figured I would feed the children and anyone else who wants before—”

“Everything looks wonderful.” Remus smiled as he patted her shoulder.

Mum sighed in relief. She must’ve been worried that they were going to be upset. The next Order meeting must be soon if she was worried about cleaning up. The children took this cue to hurry up and finish eating.

Ron was the only one to complain about feeling rushed. The twins both leaned over and smacked the back of his head gently signalling him to stop complaining when they saw their mother’s worried face. “Sorry, mum. I didn’t mean that. I’ll take some food into the living room with me if I’m still hungry.”

She smiled but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Sorry, Ron. I’m trying my best.”

George cleared his plate off in the sink and wrapped an arm casually around his short mother. “Your best is better than anyone I know, mum. Honestly!”

Fred jumped up and followed suit. “We will show ourselves out! Gotta get busy to not try and ease drop on any meetings…”

Mrs. Wealsey’s dark eyes lit with a flame. “You better not! Fred, George… I mean it—” she was cut off by George and Fred dissaparating into their room upstairs.

Fred smiled at his twin. “It doesn’t count if we didn’t hear the entire sentence, right?”

“When has being told to not do something every stopped us in the past, Freddie.”

“Right you are, George.” His twin reached deep into his jeans pocket and pulled out the prototype for the Extendable Ears. “Let’s try her out again and see if there are any changes. Do you have the notes from the last attempt?”

George went rummaged through his desk. “Right here!” He waved his notes in the air and the boys smiled mischievously to each other. “Ready, Fred?”

“Ready, George.”

“Let’s go.” They said in unison as they crept to a hiding spot they found in the house to lower the string by the door of the Order meeting to try and catch any information they could possibly discover.

The twins were listening so intently that they hadn’t realized they were being watched. “What on earth are you two doing?”

George jumped by the sudden voice behind him. Hermione Granger was standing with an eyebrow raised. She had her arms crossed over her chest with the copy of Hogwarts a History tucked into the bag that was slung over her shoulder. There must’ve been many books in that plain leather bag because that book was poking out the top looking like it would fall. “Trying to listen into the Order meeting. It helps if we have peace and quiet.”

“Run along, little Gryfindor. This is for the big boys.” Fred winked to show her that he was joking.

“I think I’ve faced enough danger in my life to be able to listen into a meeting. May I join?” She looked hopefully at the twins.

They pretended to deliberate the pros and cons of letting her in before they said in unison, “You’re in.”

“What exactly am I in?” She giggled while setting her bag down next to them.

“Top secret mission, join the Order and infiltrate by obtaining information, of course.” Fred said while holding the ear so that it was low enough for her to hear.

Hermione stepped closer to the twins and moved her hair behind her shoulder to better hear. The twins leaned lower to be able to hear since they had to lower the extendable ear. George felt Hermione hesitate at the closeness before getting close the to magical object again. He felt her heat radiating off of him and realized that she smelled like mint and books. What an odd combination that somehow… smelled like it could’ve been sold as a potion because it was so intoxicating.

He was lost in thought and hadn’t even realized that the meeting was over until Fred was frantically trying to pull up the other end of the Extendable Ear before his mother could catch on to what they were doing. Hermione grabbed her bag of books and smiled casually at the twins. “Thanks you two. I promise if I ever invent something as useful as that I’ll share it with you both.”

“That’s a verbal agreement.” George smiled at her. “I’ll take you up on that. Anything Hermione Granger invents, I’m sure it’ll be useful stuff.”

She rolled her eyes and was off to her and Ginny’s room. Fred was looking at his twin. “What did you think of that?” He said with a twinkle in his eye. “I can’t believe that they’re keeping Harry in the dark.”

George blushed a little from embarrassment that he hadn’t caught any information from the meeting. “Yea… that’s crazy.”

His twin turned on his heels and stared him as if to examine him. “Yea… crazy. What was the craziest part of the meeting?”

“Oh you know… Harry… stuff about Harry…” George smiled sheepishly and rubbed his hand against the back of his neck. “Sorry, I kind of zoned out during the meeting if I’m being honest.”

“Well what on earth were you thinking about?” Fred looked at him with a curious look.

“Er—an idea for the joke shop actually. I think we should do something with Amortentia and sell it as love potions but in smaller doses so it’s not as intense as what we worked on last year in Snapes’ class.” George lied through his teeth but realized that it was actually a good idea.

“Brilliant!” His twin smiled. “You should start making the potion, I’ll finish tweaking the Extendable Ear. I bet if we work hard, we could get both products done by the end of the week. Perfect for mail orders.”

George smiled as they bound up to their rooms to begin working. He stole a glance into the girls room as the door was open. Ginny and Hermione were laying on the ground staring at the ceiling and giggling. He wonders what they were thinking of before he had to steal his attention away and focus on Amortentia potion to make. He hoped that he would smell that strange combination of books and mint once again.


	2. The Need to Fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sirius fumed. “Since when did someone have to be in the Order of the Phoenix to ask questions? Harry’s been trapped inside that awful Muggle house for a month. He has a right to know what has been happening.”  
>  George felt anger and frustration ripple through his body. “Hang on!” He put his butter beer back down on the table.   
>  “How come Harry gets his questions answered?” Fred added angrily.  
>  “We’re of age and we’ve been trying to get stuff out of you all for a month and you haven’t told us a single stinking thing.” George said in a frustrating tone that he knew wasn’t fair to be talking to his mother like that but the passion of the moment couldn’t get him to stop his feeling of anger roll off of his tongue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoy chapter two of Always and Forever! Please let me know what you think.

Chapter Two:

Hermione POV

When the door opened of Ronald’s room, Hermione couldn’t help but bound and leap towards the messy haired boy. She wrapped her arms around her best friend’s neck. The move almost sent Harry flying back into the door that he came through. “Harry!” She smiled happily. “Ron! He’s here! Harry’s here! We didn’t hear you arrive! Oh, how are you? Are you all right? Have you been furious with us? I bet you have… I know our letters have been useless—but we couldn’t tell you so much, Dumbledore made us swear we wouldn’t…” she could’ve continued but a pair of hands pulled her arms away from the Chosen One’s neck.

“Let him breathe, Hermione.” Ron closed the door behind Harry and smiled at his friend.

Hedwig flew into the room and landed on Harry’s shoulder. “She pecked us half to death when she brought your last letters, look at this rubbish.” Ron held up his right hand and showed off the sported deep cuts that were on his fingers from the owl.

“Sorry about that…” Harry said coldly. “I wanted answers, you know…”

Ron flushed slightly. “We wanted to give them to you, mate. We really did! Hermione was going spare, she kept saying you’d do something stupid if you were stuck all on your own without news, but Dumbledore made us swear—”

“—swear not to tell me. Yeah, Hermione’s already said that.” Harry crossed his arms across his chest and Hermione’s stomach dropped.

There was an awkward silence that filled the room as Hermione tried to think of what to say to make her friend feel better. She tried to imagine if the roles were reversed how she would feel if Ron and Harry were keeping information from her and she was abandoned in the dark by herself with no knowledge and answers. The thought made her shudder.

“I think Dumbledore thought it best you were with the muggles to stay away from all the evil right now in the Wizarding world.” Ron suggested but that was clearly not the right thing to say.

Harry had a flame in his green eyes. “Yea? Safe huh? Were either of you attacked by dementors this summer?”

Hermione shook her head. “No… but that’s why Dumbledore made sure that people from the Order of Phoenix tailed you all this time—”

“Didn’t work that well, though, did it?”

The Gryffindor girl tried to continue and put her hand against her friend’s shoulder, feeling the ratty flannel shirt under her palm. “Dumbledore was so angry when he found out. We saw him when he heard that Mundungus had left before his shift had ended. It was rather scary.”

“Well I’m not. I’m happy it happened so I finally got answers. Why has Dumbledore been keeping in the dark anyhow?”

Ron shrugged. “He must’ve thought that was best. Besides, we have been left out of loads of stuff too! Mum won’t let us anywhere near those Order meetings.”

This was obviously not the right thing to say. Harry began to explode going on about how he has been through more than anyone in this room. Every bitter thing that Harry must’ve been stewing over the Summer cam rolling off of his tongue. Hermione put her hand down to her side, stung by the resentment that her friend was feeling towards her at the moment. “Harry… we’re really sorry!” Hermione cried. She felt the pain of tears threatening to spill out over her eyelashes onto her cheeks. “You’re right. I’d be furious if it was me.”

If looks could kill, she would be dead. Harry turned to her and had to pinch the bridge of his nose to calm down. “What is this place anyway? Can you answer me that?”

Ron jumped up and offered the information immediately. “Headquarters of the Order of Phoenix. A secret society of people who fought against You-Know-Who last time.”

“Who’s in it?” Harry asked his eyes no longer burning with rage but instead lit with curiosity.

“We aren’t exactly sure. We met 20 of them but I assume there’s more.” The girl smiled softly at her friend, thankful that he wasn’t yelling anymore. “We are slowly finding more information, but Mrs. Weasley discovered the new object Fred and George invented, extendable ears and she has been stricter about us trying to find information—oh my god you two!” She screamed as a loud crack filled the room and the twins appeared out of thin air. “You have got to stop doing that!”

The twins ignored her complaints and turned their attention to Harry. “Hello, Harry! We thought we heard your dulcet tones.” George smiled at the shorter boy.

“You don’t want to bottle up your anger like that, Mate, let it all out. There might be a couple of people fifty miles away who didn’t hear you.” Fred teased while beaming at Harry.

“We did come however because all the yelling is messing with the extendable ears.” George held up the magical device in his hand.

The other twin wiggled his red eyebrows to Harry. “Would you like to try and join us in hearing what’s going on downstairs?”

Ron stood up and shoved his hands in his jean pockets. “You need to be careful. If Mum sees one of them again…” he shuddered at the thought.

Fred smiled wickedly. “Oh, Ron. It is worth the risk, that’s a major meeting they’re having downstairs.”

The door suddenly opened and George shoved the ears into his pocket in case it was an adult that entered the room of teenagers. Ginny entered in the room and smiled brightly. “Harry! I thought I heard your voice.” She smiled and crossed the room to the twins. “Mum put a Imperturable Charm on the kitchen door. The Extendable Ears won’t work.”

George let his shoulders drop and Hermione felt like he looked truly defeated for a moment. “How d’you know?”

“Tonks told me how to find out. You just chuck stuff at the door and if it can’t make contact the door’s been Imperturbed.”

Fred slumped onto one of the beds in the room. “That’s real rotten luck. I really fancied finding out what old Snape’s been up to these days.”

“Snape? He isn’t here, is he?” Harry’s green eyes opened wildly.

George carefully closed the door after his sister. “Yea… giving a report. Top secret information. Which is why we were trying to sneak some information.” He plopped down on the bed next to Hermione and she felt the warmth of the teenager next to her.

“He’s on our side now…” Hermione reminded everyone in that room.

The 5th year Weasley snorted. “Doesn’t stop him from being a git. The way he looks at us when he comes to visit.” He kicked a shoe across the room with his foot.

Ginny crossed her arms across her chest and leaned against the dark wardrobe in the corner of the small room. “Bill tells me he doesn’t like him either.”

“Is Bill here? I thought he was working in Egypt?” Harry cleaned his glasses and looked like he was trying to understand ancient ruins in his head with all the odd information that was being thrown at him.

Fred shook his head. “He got a desk job so that he could come home and work for the Order.” He smirked. “There are compensations of course for this job…”

“Remember old Fleur Delacour?” George added seeing Harry’s confusion. “She’s got a job at Gringotts to improve her English apparently.”

Fred sniggered. “Oh yea… Bill is giving her plenty of private lessons.”

Their conversations stopped abruptly at the sound of footsteps on the stairway. Mrs. Weasley gave Harry a big hug and invited everyone downstairs now that the meeting was over. The twins apparated in a pinch which made Mrs. Weasley bite her tongue from yelling after them.

When they all got downstairs, Hermione found herself sitting in between Ginny and George at the dining table and across from Harry and Ron. The other members of the Order were talking in hushed voices around the table which Hermione could tell was going to make Harry explode. She attempted to distract her friend, “Water, Harry?” She poured her friend a glass and handed it across the table.

Molly was having everyone help out with something and the small kitchen was filled with life. Her screams filled the room as she began to scold the twins. “Just carry them!” The twins had bewitched a large cauldron of stew, an iron flagon of butterbeer, and a heavy wooden breadboard and it was coming hurtling towards the table.

Hermione rolled her eyes and looked at the twins in a disapproving mannor as Mrs. Weasley began to scold them. “Oh no, Hermione!” Ginny pointed to her jumper she was wearing. A large spot of butter beer and splashed onto the white knitting and stained it.

“Oh no. I just got this for the upcoming school year with my mum.” Sadness filled Hermione’s chest as she thought of the item that was reminding her of her mother being ruined already before the term could begin.

The twins were back in their seats looking sheepishly. “Sorry, Hermione. Would you mind if I fixed it for you?” George held up his wand and looked at the girl with kind eyes.

She was hesitant, worried that it would be some sort of prank. “Have you done this before?”

He smiled. “Oh yea, loads of time! When we are experimenting with our products, we spill all the time. I wouldn’t have any non-stained clothing if I didn’t know how to magically take care of it.”

The girl took a deep breath of faith. “Alright, Weasley. Show me what you got.” Hermione raised one of her eyebrows and looked into George’s brown eyes.

He seemed taken aback before clearing his throat and saying the incantation. Just as quickly as it had stained her jumper, it disappeared. She smiled and looked down. “Thank you, George! My mum bought this jumper for me and I was excited about wearing it this term.”

He winked at the girl. “Anytime, Granger.”

George POV

The older boy could’ve sworn he saw the 5th year blush before being pulled into a conversation with Ginny. Fred elbowed him under the table and raised an eyebrow. George shrugged in response. The twins often had these silent conversations with each other. Everyone else at the table seemed clueless about the exchange.

There was only the sound of forks scraping against plates as everyone devoured the food at the table. Their mother turned her head to Sirius. “There’s something trapped in the writing desk in the drawing room, it keeps rattling and shaking. I thought we out to ask Alastor to have a look at it before we let it out. Probably a boggart…”

Sirius shrugged. “Whatever you like, Molly.”

George turned his attention to Hermione and Ginny’s giggles which were much more entertaining than the boring conversation about cleaning tasks. Tonks was transforming her nose between mouthfuls of Stew. Soon, Tonks began to take requests from the girls and the twins who were now laughing along with them.

He was enchanted with the sound of Hermione’s laugh. He had noticed that she was quite different this year than last. She had grown a lot in the Summer and was more open to happiness. Serves her right, there was so much darkness in the world that you had to be a little joyful.

Fred tapped his elbow with his own and motioned his chin towards the heated conversation that was going on in front of them between Harry, Sirius, and their mother. Mrs. Weasley was sitting upright in her chair with her fists clenched tightly. “He’s too young. He’s just a boy.”

Sirius fumed. “Since when did someone have to be in the Order of the Phoenix to ask questions? Harry’s been trapped inside that awful Muggle house for a month. He has a right to know what has been happening.”

George felt anger and frustration ripple through his body. “Hang on!” He put his butter beer back down on the table.

“How come Harry gets his questions answered?” Fred added angrily.

“We’re of age and we’ve been trying to get stuff out of you all for a month and you haven’t told us a single stinking thing.” George said in a frustrating tone that he knew wasn’t fair to be talking to his mother like that but the passion of the moment couldn’t get him to stop his feeling of anger roll off of his tongue.

Fred mimicked his mother in a high-pitched voice. “You’re too young, you’re not in the Order.”

“Harry’s not even of age.” George pointed out.

Sirius calmly looked between the two fired up Weasley’s. “It’s not my fault you haven’t been told wht the Order’s doing. Thaty’s your parents’ decision. Harry, on the other hand—”

“It’s not down to you to decide what’s good for Harry!” Their mother said sharply and had a dangerous look on her face. “You haven’t forgotten what Dumbeldore said, I suppose? You know, the part about not telling Harry more than what he needs to know.”

Hermione gulped loudly and began to wring her hand nervously from the tension. All of the children were now turning their heads from side to side as the Order members argued. “I don’t intend to tell him more than what he needs to know, Molly.”

“He’s not James, Sirius.”

Lupin cleared his throat. “Personally…” His calm eyes turned between Sirius and Molly in a kind manner that showed he was not picking any side. “I think it may be better if Harry gets the facts—not all the facts but the general picture—from us, rather than a garbled version from… others.” He flashed a look at the twins that they were sure their mother had not seen.

George panicked and reached for his pocket where the Extendable Ear was. Had Lupin known that they were listening into the meeting the other day?

“Very well.” Mrs. Wealsey said shortly. “Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Fred, and George. Out of this kitchen, now.”

Fred and George jumped to their feet with rage. “We’re of age!”

“No! I absolutely forbid you to be in here.” She said sternly.

The twins looked to the other Order members for support and their father sighed as if he was tired of having this conversation. “Molly, dear, you cannot stop Fred and George. They are of age…”

“They’re still at school!”

“Legally they’re adults now.”

Their mother looked like she was going to cry. “Fine. The twins may stay. The rest of you. Out. Now.”

Hermione cleared her throat and said in a respectful but authoritative voice. “It would be rather silly to send Ron and I out. Harry will just simply rely all of the details to us once we are all alone. Professor, you said it yourself. You’d rather information come from the Order instead of a garbled version.”

Mrs. Weasley turned red with rage and George smiled down at the witty and smart Gryffindor girl. She noticed and flashed him a quick smile. “Fine.” Mrs. Weasley cried out. “But Ginny. You are leaving. Now.”

The youngest girl went kicking and screaming all the way upstairs. Lupin closed the door behind the young girl and turned to the Chosen One. “Ask away. What would you like to know, Harry?”

Harry began to rattle off questions faster than he could breathe. The Order Members answered him as honestly but secretly as possible. The Gryffindors discovered that there haven’t been any suspicious deaths surrounding Voldemort and his followers. They also discovered that Harry had messed up all of his plans by surviving. Hermione sucked in a breath at this and George patted her back to comfort her without putting much thought in the gesture. She looked at him with thankful eyes. This was a lot of information for anyone to take in. Hermione was always taking care of Ron and Harry and it seemed that the thought of losing one of them was too much for the girl.

They also found out that the Order was making plans to make sure Voldemort cannot carry out whatever plan he had put into place before the Tri-Wizard Tournament last year. There were to be a large army filled with witches and wizards that were dark and evil. The Order was attempting to stop the army from growing in size. Sirius turned to Harry at the end of the all the information and leaned forward. “Voldemort is after something.”

“Like a weapon?” Harry asked. “Something worse than the killing curse?”

Sirius opened his mouth like he was going to answer when Mrs. Weasley shouted. “That’s enough! I want you in bed, now. All of you.”

Fred shook his head. “You can’t boss us—”

“Watch me.” She snarled and began to tremble slightly. Their mother turned her death glare from the twins to Sirius. “You might have well inducted him into the Order straightaway with the amount of information you just gave, Harry.”

“Why not?” The dark-haired boy asked. “I’ll join. I want to fight—”

Mrs. Weasley shook her head. But it wasn’t her who spoke but Lupin. “No. The Order is comprised only overage wizards.” He added when the twins leaned in. “Wizards who have left school. There are many dangers that surround this which you have no idea. We’ve said enough for now.”

As the teenagers were getting shooed out of the kitchen Hermione was mumbling about needing to get to a quill and parchment right away to right everything down for her to study and analyze latter. Ron and Harry had their heads tucked together as they followed the young girl up the stairs to their rooms.

The twins tested out the door by throwing a dung bomb at the door and were disappointed when it did not stick. Their mother was surely not letting anyone spy on the rest of the meeting tonight. They did however get something, information. It was more than they’ve had all Summer and it made George feel powerful. He looked at Fred and it was obvious his twin was thinking exactly the same thing.


	3. Prefect Badges

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> George winked at the two prefects. “I’ll have to keep my eye out for you two, law-abiding citizens.” He disappeared and joined his brother in their room.  
>  They fell into loud laughter as they thought of how funny it would be for either Ron or Hermione to enforce any rules on them. They just simply couldn’t’ take them seriously! George heard Hermione’s voice, muffled from the room below, but loud enough for them to hear. “Ignore those two, Ronald. They’re just jealous. I’m so proud of you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone, I hope you enjoy the third chapter of Always and Forever. I have enjoyed writing it and I hope you enjoy reading it! As always, I don't own any rights to the characters or the story.

Chapter Three

Hermione POV

The day of Harry’s hearing was quite stressful at No. 12 Grimmauld Place. Hermione found herself having to force herself to re-read the same line over and over again in her Herbology textbook. “Honestly, Hermione. Don’t you every stop reading?” Ron asked as he plopped on the sofa next to her. “Term hasn’t even started yet.”

“I need to distract myself. Reading helps.” She felt herself glancing at the clock constantly. She wished she could’ve gone to the Ministry with Harry and Mr. Weasley. “I don’t think I will be able to get my mind off of anything until Harry returns.”

Ron sighed. “Well today will be rather boring.” He looked over. “Maybe I’ll be so bored I read…” he laughed at the thought.

Ginny appeared and wiggled a game of Wizard Snap cards in front of his face. “I heard you were bored… wanna rematch?”

He was up and nodding before she could finish the sentence. He was still angry that Ginny had beaten him last time and claimed she was cheating. The two began a heated game and were scowling at each other while they taunted the other.

“Whatcha reading?” Fred asked from right next to Hermione as a loud crack filled the room.

She jumped at the sudden appearance of the twins at her side. “You have got to stop doing that! Herbology.”

“Shame it’s not potions… we were just working on a potion that we learned about in 6th year.” George tutted and wiggled his eyebrows. “Would you like a glimpse at your next year potions test? It was an entire chapter dedicated to this potion.”

Hermione bit her lip. Curiosity was eating her alive and she always loved the possibility of getting ahead in school. “What is the potion?”

Fred leaned in close. “That’s the thing… it’s a secret.”

“We are going to sell it at the shop. We are working on it right now upstairs. It’s finished if you would like to check it out.” George smiled at the girl with a glint in his eye of the excitement of a new product.

Hermione sighed. “Oh why not. These two seem like they’ll be at it for hours.”

Fred and George both grabbed her elbows. “Let’s save a few seconds!” Fred laughed and they apparated upstairs into their room.

The feeling of being sucked by her navel made Hermione want to vomit. “Please don’t do that again.” She swayed a little and thought she would collapse.

George steadied her. “Come on, Hermione. You’ll have to pass that feeling as well next year. Time to be a big girl.”

She straightened her shoulders. “I’ll have you know I’m the top in my class. I’m sure I will master both of these things.”

He held up his hand in defeat. “I never said you wouldn’t, Hermione. Come one, everyone knows your smart! We are just trying to help you see your future.”

Fred waved his wand and revealed the cauldron that was magically hidden to prevent Mrs. Weasley from pitching another one of their products. Hermione leaned in. The potion had a pearl sheen on the top and there was steam rising in large spirals off of the top. She deeply inhaled and sighed at the smell of vanilla, firework smoke, parchment paper, and freshly cut grass. “That smells wonderful.” She giggled and curiosity got the best of her. “What on earth is it? Can I try it?”

Fred and George looked at each other. “Perhaps it’s best you don’t…” they said in unison.

George held up a small vile. “This is amortentia…”

“Love potion.” Fred wiggled his eyebrows. “So unless you wanted to become obsessed with ole’ George and I…”

Hermione looked at them in shock. “You’re going to sell a love potion?”

“We are going to make sure it’s muted so it’s not as powerful as it is right now. Anyone who drinks the potion will become obsessed with the object of their affection. The effects will wear off however, and the person who drank it will of course get over the feeling.”

She examined the potion with intense curiosity. “So what you smell…”

Fred leaned in and inhaled with a smile. “You’re smelling what you find attractive. It doesn’t always have to be about a person. I smell fresh-baked cookies. The smell of home.”

George smiled and inhaled. His attention turned to Hermione. “What do you smell?”

“Well… it’s sort of confusing. I smell parchment paper and freshly cut grass which those make sense it reminds me of Hogwarts and home. However… I also smell something like vanilla and firework smoke.” She inhaled again and nodded. “Odd.”

George blushed and Fred smiled. The girl didn’t understand this strange exchange. “Brilliant.” They said together.

“What do you smell?” Hermione turned to George.

He shifted his weight to the other foot and shrugged. “Loads of stuff I suppose. I smell mint, a roaring fire, and something else. Can’t put my finger on it.”

“Interesting.” Hermione was examining the liquid and pulled out a piece of parchment paper to write down some notes on the potion. “Thank you for showing this to me.” She leaned in again to get a smell of the potion in the small vile that Fred had handed her.

“Oh, be careful, Hermione. You got a little on your nose.” George leaned forward and Hermione held her breath. He took the sleeve of his jumper and gently wiped away the pearl colored potion. “Wouldn’t want you to accidently drink that.” He laughed lightly before casting the charm over the cauldron and viles again to make it disappear from sight.

Fred leaned in close to Hermione. “Do you think these would sell?”

She deliberated in her head for a moment. “Yes. Especially if you sell to Hogwarts students. I would definitely make sure that you are making the potions diluted though. This could cause a lot of havoc and trouble at Hogwarts.”

The twins laughed. “That doesn’t sound anything like us.”

Hermione rolled her eyes and went to give them back the vile but they shook their head. “Keep it! It’s fun to smell it from time to time.” George smiled as Hermione put the vile into her back pocket.

“Thanks!” She smiled and awkardly looked at the door. “I’m going to go back to reading now. But honestly, thank you. I enjoyed learning more about the potion.”

George POV:

As soon as the door shut behind the Gryffindor girl his brother turned to him. “Mint. That’s interesting…”

George shrugged. “What else do you smell besides cookies?”

Fred smiled. “Lavender and a quaffle. It’s what Angelina smells like.”

He smiled at his twin. George was happy for his brother. He wished that he knew who his amortenia was aimed towards. He knew that the roaring fire reminded him of both the Burrow and the Gryffindor common room but the mint and the smell of something florally were confusing to him. He had no idea who smelled like that. “I don’t know how to place my last scent.”

“You could always go around asking to sniff the girls at school. I’m sure they would all love that.” Fred laughed and flung himself on the bed while pulling out the Extendable Ear out of his pocket to work on the kinks of the clarity of sound.

George laughed and shook his head. “Yea. I’m sure that would work out swell. Knowing my luck it’ll be a Slytherin girl who wants to hex me.”

“Not all the Slytherins’ are horrible. One of them was quite nice to me in a detention with Snape one time. I think she left school already. It was back in third year.” Fred recalled. “You’ll find your person. Don’t worry about it. I know that Katie really likes you.”

George tried picturing that image. Surely they would have a lot in common. They hung out all the time because of Quidditch. Katie always laughed loudly at his jokes and would place her hand on his shoulders to calm him down after rough games. No matter how he turned the image, she always remained just a friend to him. The touch on the shoulders and the laughs were all deemed as platonic to him. It wouldn’t do. “I’m not too worried about it. Right now, I just want to sell lots of Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes products.”

“I can work with that.” Fred agreed as a crinkle appeared between his brows as he tried to fix the Extendable Ear.

They spent the rest of the afternoon in that manner until they heard that Harry and their father had returned. They apparated downstairs next to Ginny who was so used to their dramatics that she didn’t even flinch. They were catching the end of the conversation but quicly figured out the turn of events when Ron was cheering, “You always get away with stuff!”

Hermione gave Harry a big hug. “I just knew they had to clear you. They had no case against you and it would’ve simply been unfair.” She was hiding her shaking hands from the anxiety of worrying about her friend for the past hour.

Harry chuckled. “Everyone seems rather relieved despite being sure I would get cleared.”

The twins ruffled his hair. “We are just as relaxed as when you left because we knew that you would get off. They began to do a war dance and chanting he got off, he got off, he got off, over and over again. Ginny joined in on their odd little dance with a huge smile on her face. They continued this chaos until Mrs. Weasley looked like she was going to explode.

George twirled Ginny to a stop and her laughs filled the kitchen. Harry looked at her and smiled. “Well I’m glad everyone is happy that the hearing went alright.”

They celebrated that night with chocolate chip cookies, the same ones that Fred smelled in his Amortentia. George saw out of the corner of his eye how happy the cookies made his twin and chuckled wondering again what his potion was pointing him towards.

The next day, all of the siblings and friends were cleaning up when Ron came around passing out letters. “Hogwarts letters came in today!”

Fred and George looked at the list. “Looks like Dumbledore hired someone knew.”

Harry looked confused. “How can you tell?”

George pointed to the book for Defense Against the Dark Arts. “Slinkhard book. It’s someone new.”

“About time.” Fred added as he plopped on the quilted bed. “Dumbledore was having a rather nasty time trying to fill the spot. No one really wants it after what has happened in the past couple years.”

Harry understood. “I can see what you mean.”

“What’s wrong, Ron?” George asked looking at his younger brother who was holding his letter and looking very still with a shocked look on his face.

His brother still did not answer and Fred jumped up impatiently. “Let me see what all the fuss is about.” When he looked at the letter his mouth dropped as well. “Prefect?”

George jumped up and grabbed the letter looking for the stupid badge. The scarlet and gold dropped into his palm. “No way. Prefect.” He tossed the pin to Harry to examine while Ron was still standing there in shock.

“There’s got to be a mistake… no one in their right mind would make Ron a prefect!” Fred laughed and searched the letter for a different name.

“I assumed Dumbledore would pick you to be the Gryffindor Prefect, Harry!” George added as he peered over the letter with his twin. “Mum is going to be fun to be around. Little Ickle Ronnikins is a prefect.”

Hermione game running through the door with a matching badge in her hand. “Did you get it?” She spotted the Prefect badge in Harry’s hand. “I knew it! I just knew, Harry you would be a Prefect!” Her face was glowing.

“No… not me.” Harry blushed and handed the badge to Ron who was still standing very still.

“Ron?” Hermione turned to her other friend. “Are you sure?”

He got red in the face. “It’s my name on the letter if you’d like to check it.”

“Oh, no.” The girl blushed and George wanted to wipe the defiant look off of his brother’s face as he stared down the poor girl. “I mean it’s just—”

“Unexpected.” George suggested.

Mrs. Weasley came bounding into the door talking about buying school supplies and pajamas. “Ronald what color would you like your pajamas to be? You’ve grown about 5 inches this Summer and those are far too short on you now.”

Fred said bitterly. “How about scarlet and gold to match the Prefect badge?”

“I don’t believe it!” Their mother smiled wildly. “That’s everyone in the family!”

“What are Fred and I? Next door neighbors?” George said as he shoved his hands deep into his pockets while his mother pushed him out of the way to wrap Ron into a big hug.

The twins were making fake gagging noises as their mother fawned over the newest Prefect in the family. George caught a glimpse of Hermione and saw an odd expression on her face. It was a mix of annoyance and pitty.

She was talking about buying Ron something for the honor of being a Prefect before she dashed out of the bedroom as fast as she came. Fred turned his attention to Ron. “You don’t mind if we don’t kiss you, right Ron?”

“We could curtsy, if you like.” George suggested in a mocking tone.

“Oh, shut up.” Ron pushed them both playfully.

“Ooo… or what? You’ll put us into detention?” An evil grin filled Fred’s face and mischief filled his eyes. “I’d hope our brother and friend don’t cause us too much too much trouble this year.”

“Perhaps you two could follow the rules and you wouldn’t have to worry about it.” Hermione huffed while Fred and George burst into laughter. They pretended to be scared.

“Let’s run away, George!” Fred disaparated with a crack.

George winked at the two prefects. “I’ll have to keep my eye out for you two, law-abiding citizens.” He disappeared and joined his brother in their room.

They fell into loud laughter as they thought of how funny it would be for either Ron or Hermione to enforce any rules on them. They just simply couldn’t’ take them seriously! George heard Hermione’s voice, muffled from the room below, but loud enough for them to hear. “Ignore those two, Ronald. They’re just jealous. I’m so proud of you.”

Guilt filled his stomach as he realized that Hermione didn’t get to have a moment of pride from her accomplishment since everyone was so shocked about Ron getting picked over Harry. He made a mental note to try and congratulate her in a non-joking manner if the time came up. Besides, it wouldn’t hurt to be on the Prefect’s good side.


	4. Ministry Involvement

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What are you two doing?” The Gryffindor girl crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at the suspicious boys.  
>  Lee and George quickly stuffed the products into hiding. “Nothing. We would never be up to something. We are perfect angels.”   
>  Ron laughed and Hermione gave him a dark look. “Oh, sorry.” His face flushed. “Try and stay out of trouble.”  
>  George and Lee doubled over laughing. “Bloody hell, Ron! You sound ridiculous!”  
>  The girl stepped forward. “You can’t laugh at him. He’s doing his job.” Her voice was stern as if too dare them to question her authority.   
>  “What are you going to do, Granger? Give me detention?” George wiggled his eyebrows and leaned down so that their faces were staring at each other.

Chapter Four:

George POV:

Boarding the Hogwarts Express was different this year. He of course gave his mother a quick hug goodbye and told her that he would write to her. However, he now had a bag full of contraband ready to sell in his bag.

Fred had a similar stuffed bag and was bouncing excitedly to get selling to all of the students. No one seemed to notice their strange behavior except for Hermione who was giving them a suspicious look.

When they all climbed onto the train. George ruffled Ginny’s hair. “Alright, children. The big boys have to go find the other 7th years.”

“We have… business to attend to.” Fred smiled and laughed.

Hermione crossed her arms over her Gryffindor robes which she had already changed into. “Stay out of trouble, you two.”

George winked at the girl who blushed in response. “Trouble just seems to find us naturally. We don’t seek it.”

They turned around on their heels down the corridors to wear Lee and Angelina were sitting. The two other Gryffindors were arguing over Quidditch styles when the compartment door slid open. Angelina lit up and smiled at the twins. “How have you both been?” She wrapped her arms around Fred and gave him a long hug. She gave George a quicker and more platonic version once she was done squeezing Fred.

“Oh just fine.” Fred’s eyes lit up at the sight of them. “We are ready to kick of Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes.”

“We would love your help.” George looked at Lee and Angelina.

Lee jumped up onto his feet with high spirits. “I’m always interested in talking to others. How can I assist?”

George knew that would be his response. “We are trying to sell some of our prototype products. We have Ton-Tongue Toffees, Extendable Ears, and Puking Pastiles to be sold to people on the train today.”

Angelina rolled her eyes. “What do I get for helping?”

Fred got down on his knees and held her hand in a joking manner. “My endless devotion to the most amazing, brilliant, compassionate, beautiful—”

The girl blushed furiously and forced him back up on his feet. “Alright, alright! I’ll help just don’t make a scene.”

“Me?” Fred looked around as if to see a different culprit. “Make a scene? Never.”

Angelina rolled her eyes. “I don’t want to try and sell the candies, but I’ll sell the extendable ears.”

Fred smiled. “I’ll go with you. We can split into two groups to each get half of the train. Just avoid the head boy, head girl, and the prefects.”

“I’d like to see Ronald try and give me detention for selling others the candy he buys from me on a weekly basis.” George snorted.

“Ron is a Prefect?” Lee laughed. “That’s a good one.”

George shook his head. “I’m telling the truth. We were just as shocked as you.”

The older students made a plan on going through the compartments to sell. George and Lee took their share of products and started to go on their route. It was rather easy to sell to the scared first years. They told them that lies about how everyone at Hogwarts played pranks and if they didn’t come prepared, they would have to load up their pockets this instant.

The pair froze when they saw Hermione and Ron walking towards them with their shiny Prefect badges pinned to their robes. “What are you two doing?” The Gryffindor girl crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at the suspicious boys.

Lee and George quickly stuffed the products into hiding. “Nothing. We would never be up to something. We are perfect angels.”

Ron laughed and Hermione gave him a dark look. “Oh, sorry.” His face flushed. “Try and stay out of trouble.”

George and Lee doubled over laughing. “Bloody hell, Ron! You sound ridiculous!”

The girl stepped forward. “You can’t laugh at him. He’s doing his job.” Her voice was stern as if too dare them to question her authority.

“What are you going to do, Granger? Give me detention?” George wiggled his eyebrows and leaned down so that their faces were staring at each other.

Hermione backed up at the closeness of the twin and her eyes widened in shock. She grounded herself and cleared her throat. “I just might. Don’t sell those products on the train.”

“Or at least try and hide it from us.” Ron suggested to try and be a middle ground between the two extremes. He was clearly struggling with this transition as a Prefect.

Lee and George crossed their heart dramatically. “Cross our hearts and hope to die, Mr. and Mrs. Prefect.” Lee winked and the two ducked into a random compartment with a couple of Hufflepuffs to wait for them to pass and sell their products.

Hermione POV

The pressure of the shiny Prefect badge weighed on her shoulders. Once Hermione was at Hogwarts, she felt like there were more eyes on her. Malfoy and Parkinson were showing off their similar badge and sneered when they saw her. “Can’t believe they would make a mud blood a Prefect. It’s an embarrassment.” Malfoy sneered at Hermione.

Ron stood in front of her and held up his wand. “Watch your mouth, Malfoy.”

“Don’t be stupid you filthy, blood traitor. You can’t fight me. We are both Prefects. What would Mother Weasley think if you lost your badge before you even had a full day of term.” His cold eyes narrowed in an evil manner.

Hermione grabbed a hold of Ron’s elbow and tugged him away. This was a hard task since he had grown almost half a foot since last year and now towered over her. “Come on, Ron. It’s not worth it.”

They sat down at the Gryffindor table near the other Weasleys’, Neville, and Harry. Her friend was scanning the professors table and whispered under his breath, “Hagrid isn’t back from his mission.”

Hermione was filled with worry. “I hope he isn’t hurt…”

The boy went white. “It’s that Umbridge woman! She was at my hearing; she works for Fudge. The ugly one in the pink cardigan.”

The others turned to see the new professor at the high table. She looked like a round toad. Before they could talk about what that could possibly mean for the upcoming school year, the scared looking first years walked in as they were led by Professor McGonagall.

Every student watched and waited breathlessly for the Sorting Hat to come alive and sing the Sorting Hat song. Hermione listened very closely to the words since she knew the hat always gave a message to the student body if one was wise enough to pay attention.

Her heart sank as the sorting hat gave warnings of history repeating itself and Hogwarts being in danger. She looked at Ron and Harry to see if they noticed. It seemed that even people as thick as those two understood the message. “I wonder if the hat has ever given warnings before?”

They didn’t have time to talk because the Sorting Ceremony had begun. They cheered loudly for the Gryffindors and clapped politely for Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. Once the Sorting was finished, Dumbledore smiled and raised his hands. “I have a few words for our newcomers… welcome! To our old hands… welcome back! There is a time for speeches, but now is not the time. Tuck in!”

When all of the students filled their plates multiple times and were so stuffed that they thought they would explode, Dumbledore gave his actual speech. He warned new and old students alike where the out of bounds areas of the castle was and seemed to give a wink to the twins who smiled in return. He then introduced the ugly professor as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Delores Umbridge. He went on to talk about quidditch tryouts, when Umbridge had the audacity to stand next to him and interrupt.

He only looked taken aback for a moment before he sat back down and looked alertly at the Professor. “Thank you, Headmaster for those kind words of welcome. I’m very much looking forward to getting to know you all, and I’m sure we’ll be very good friends!”

“That’s likely.” The twins said in unison across from the golden trio.

Professor Umbridge cleared her throat again and sounded more businesslike than ever before. “The Ministry of Magic has always considered the education of young witches and wizards to be of vital importance. The rare gifts from which you were born may come to nothing if not nurtured and honed by careful instruction. The treasure of magical knowledge we amassed by our ancestors must be guarded, replenished, and polished. There has been a shift of tradition and innovation that the Ministry is excited to be assisting with.” She smiled before sitting back down.

“That was illuminating.” Hermione huffed in a low voice.

“You’re not telling me you enjoyed it?” Ron looked at her like she had grown a third head.

“Did I say I enjoyed it? No. It was illuminating. It means that the Ministry is interfering at Hogwarts. Now hurry up, we have to go and show the first years where to go!” She looked flustered and got up in a flurry of curly-hair and black robes.

“Hey—hey! You lot! Midgets!” Ron boomed to the sea of new Gryffindors.

“RON!” Hermione boomed and gave him a look that could kill. “They’re not midgets…” She turned her attention to the new Gryffindors and ignored the giggles coming from Ginny and the twins. “First years! This way, please!”

George POV

The Gryffindor common room welcomed him home for the last time. He was hit by the feeling of a closing of a new chapter. This would be his last Sorting Ceremony ever. He smiled and took in all of the details that the cozy tower room gave off. He looked around to see that Ron and Hermione were busy getting the first years situated and took the opportunity to pin some signs advertising a way to make money on the notice boards.

Angelina appeared behind them and squinted at the bright sign. “No one is going to be dumb enough to fall for this. One sickle?”

“First years may be desperate enough for money, love.” Fred smiled down at the girl. “We can only hope.”

“No, Angelina… we wouldn’t have to do this if you and Lee…” George started but the girl held up a hand in his face.

“No way, Weasley. I would never try your protype candies.” She held her throat. “I hate the feeling of your Ton-Tongue Toffee. I couldn’t imagine it when it was going crazy.”

Fred laughed. “It wasn’t too bad! We always test the products on ourselves before asking for others for help. We are responsible business owners.”

She rolled her eyes. “Sure, you are. I better turn in. I have a big day tomorrow; I basically have a full schedule of all N.E.W.T classes.”

Lee Jordan pretended to gag. “Why on earth would you do that?”

“I want to have a good job after I graduate. Sorry that I have ambitions past a joke shop.”

“Ambition? God why don’t we plop the Sorting Hat on your head and call you a Slytherin.” Lee rolled his eyes as he plopped into one of the plush armchairs by the roaring flames in the fire grate.

Angelina narrowed her dark eyes and she stepped forward. “You take that back, Lee. I’m as much of a Gryffindor as anyone in this room.”

He held up his hands in defeat. “Only joking, Angelina! Only joking!”

She nodded and rubbed her eyes. “Sorry… I just think I’m really tired. I’m going to turn in for bed.” Angelina kissed Fred on the cheek and ruffled Lee and George’s hair. “Goodnight you blokes.”

Fred stared back at her. “I hope she doesn’t honestly think that the joke shop is a waste of time… it’ll be brilliant. It has to be.”

George smiled at his twin. “You’re not worrying now are you Fred? It’s a little late for that, don’t you think?”

“Yea… yea… I think it’s just a little overwhelming thinking that everything is going to change soon.” He smiled and sank down next to the other boys. “Do you know what I mean?”

George smiled. “I was actually just thinking about that. It seems like yesterday the three of us were sorted and stayed up the entire night before the first day of term.”

“It’s probably a good thing no one else was sorted in. Could you imagine if we had a stick in the mud sharing the room with the three of us? All hell would have broken loose.” Lee shook his head thinking of the possibilities.

The three boys were laughing around and going in a circle talking about their best pranks and raids over the last seven years. They envied the simplicity of the first years and the possibility of being able to explore Hogwarts with fresh eyes all over again.

“Blood hell! Is it really 2 am? We better go.” Lee jumped up and headed to the dorms.

Fred and George stood up and took another look at the Gryffindor Common room and the brightly lit sign of their future joke shop. Everything was the same and yet everything was changing all at the same time. “Ready for this year, George?”

George smiled at his twin. “Ready as ever, Fred.”

The next morning, they entered the Great Hall and heard Ron complaining loudly at the Gryffindor table. “—double Potions, Divination, and double Defense Against the Dark Arts… Binns, Snape, Trelawney, and that Umbridge woman all in one day! I wish Fred and George would hurry up and get those Skiving Snackboxes sorted out already.”

“Do my ears deceive me?” Fred acted and leaned his ear close to his brother as the twins squeezed onto the bench near the Golden Trio. “Hogwarts prefects surely don’t wish to skive off lessons!”

“You’d want to skive off lessons if you had this rotten schedule!” He shoved his schedule into Fred’s face.

“Fair point, Ron… you can have a bit of a Nosebleed Nougat cheap if you like.” Fred suggested as he nipped a piece of buttered toast from the platter in front of him.

“Perhaps I will. Why is it going for cheap?”

George raised his eyebrows. “Well… we don’t have the antidote quite ready yet. You’ll keep bleeding till you shrivel up.”

Ron snorted. “Cheers. I’ll just stick to my schedule…”

Hermione couldn’t stay silent for much longer she grabbed the toast out of Fred’s hand and threw it down onto his plate. “Listen you two. As for the Skiving Snackboxes, you can’t advertise for testers on the Gryffindor notice board.”

“Says who?” George shot his eyebrows up.

“Says me.” Hermione squared her shoulders and narrowed her chocolate brown eyes. “And Ron.”

“Don’t get me involved!” Ron flushed and looked at her like she had gone mad.

The twins sniggered. “You’ll be singing a different tune soon, Hermione. You’re starting your fifth year and you’ll be begging us for a Snackbox before long.” Fred winked.

She drawled. “And why would that be?”

George leaned in close to her face. “Why it’s the O.W.L year, Hermione. Half our year had minor breakdowns coming up to the exams. Tears and tantrums… Patricia Simpson kept coming over faint.”

Fred tapped his twins shoulder. “Don’t you remember, Kenneth Towler! He came out in boils…”

George laughed. “That’s because you put Bulbadox Powder in his pajamas,” said George.

“Oh yea… I’d forgotten… Hard to keep track sometimes of our notorious pranks.” Fred chased his toast down with orange juice and tried to hide a smile.

George turned his attention back to the Prefect girl and wrapped his arm jokingly around her shoulders. “It’s a nightmare, the fifth year. Fred and I managed to keep our spirits up somehow. Perhaps our products will help keep others spirits up which in that case they should be advertised for the public, naturally.”

Hermione sighed in annoyance. “You’re ridiculous, George Weasley.” Despite her annoyance she didn’t shove his arm off of her shoulder, but he felt it inappropriate for it to stay lingering there especially with Ron looking at it with daggers.

Ron sneered. “You both probably felt fine that year because you only managed 3 or 4 OWL’s between the two of you.”

Fred nodded in agreement with the statement. “Very true, Ron. However, we feel it is our futures lie outside the world of academic achievement.”

Hermione’s brow furrowed. “Outside of academic achievement? What on Earth do you mean?”

The other twin shrugged. “We seriously debated whether we were going to bother coming back for our seventh year at all. Especially now that we’ve got—” Harry shot him a warning glance to not tell the others about the earnings of the Tri Wizard Tournament for startup funds. “—now that we’ve got our O.W.Ls. I mean, do we really need N.E.W.Ts? But we didn’t think that mum would take us leaving school early, not on top of Percy turning out to be the worst Weasley in a century.”

Fred smiled. “Besides we are going to do loads of research on what students want from a joke shop.”

Hermione laughed. “Where are you even going to come up with the gold to open a joke shop?”

“Ask us no questions and we’ll tell you no lies. Come on Gred. I think we better go early and try and sell a few more products.” The twins shot up from the table and were off out of the Great Hall into the first day of 7th year. George turned around to see Ron and Harry whispering to each other while Hermione stared after the twins with curiosity.


	5. Detentions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The twins felt defeated. She ripped the poster down in front of them and ripped it up. George watched the bright paper flutter to the ground with his hope for a good day.  
>  That Monday, the twins were thinking they would be stuck whacking erasers together or cleaning off desks for Professor McGonagall. They were surprised when they were informed, they would be serving detention from Professor Umbridge who was now serving as not only the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher but also as the High Inquisitor which was a new appointed position from the Ministry of Magic.   
>  Angelina peered over at the letter of information directing them to her room at 4 pm. “What on Earth do you think she’ll have you do?”  
>  “Maybe we will have to knit her another ugly cardigan.” Fred suggested as he laughed and threw a grape in the air towards George who caught it in his mouth.  
>  “It’ll be like any other detention. Long and boring. I just hope she doesn’t go over the hour time and we miss dinner.” He sighed. He glanced at Hermione who was reading the Daily Prophet about Umbridge’s new position with a look of stress on her face. He wondered if she regretted turning them in.

Chapter Five:

George POV:

The Gryffindor Common room was celebrating after the Quidditch tryouts. The twins were handing out butter beers that they brought in from a secret passageway that went from the kitchen to Hogsmeade. George put one into Ron’s hand. “Drink up, Ronald! It’s time to celebrate.”

“Honestly! Gryffindor Keeper. Way to go! Mum will be so proud.” Fred patted his younger brother on the back which made him blush deeply.

The other Gryffindors were roaring and congratulating Ron has he walked by. Lee Jordan had turned on the radio and music was blaring through the tower room. George looked over as Ron ran towards the entrance way. “Harry! I did it! I’m Keeper!”

The Gryffindor Seeker looked at his best friend and forced a smile on his face. “Brilliant!”

“Have a butterbeer, Harry!” George said and handed a bottle to Harry.

“Where’d Hermione gone?” Harry asked looking around the common room for his other best friend.

“She fell asleep…” Fred motioned his head towards the fireplace where Hermione was passed out still holding the butterbeer in her hand.

Ron frowned. “She seemed happy when I told her, why doesn’t she want to celebrate. Perhaps we should wake her?”

George put a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Let her sleep.”

Ron looked at him with confusion. “Why do you care if Hermione stays asleep or not?”

He searched his head for an answer. He didn’t have a good one. He cared for Hermione and she had been exhausted lately. Fred clapped the back of his back and raised his eyebrows. “The Weasley products, of course. First years have been lining up for a sickle or two to try some of the prototypes out. She would flip if she found out about what was going on.”

George smiled at his twin who always knew what to say in the right time. “Yea, what Freddie said.”

Fred leaned into Harry’s ear. “He needs practice. Angelina let him on the team, but she wasn’t pleased with his form and his knowledge. You need to work with him.”

George leaned in and added. “We can’t say anything because he won’t listen to us, maybe his best mate…”

“I’ll work on it.” Harry said abruptly.

The twins dropped the subject and their goofy smiles returned to their faces. “It’s a party everyone! Let’s celebrate.” The roars filled the room again and George turned to see if Hermione had stirred.

“Take first watch. I’ll keep handing out products and taking notes on the side effects.” Fred winked at George.

George sat down in the armchair next to Hermione’s and watched the muggle-born girl sleep peacefully. He hadn’t noticed when she was awake, but she had bags under her eyes from lack of sleep and stress. He was wondering and feeling guilty if Fred and he were to cause for some of that stress.

He leaned forward and removed the butterbeer bottle from her hands as it threatened to spill out over her lap. “Honestly, Hermione you have to take better care of yourself.”

The girl stirred in her sleep and her eyelids fluttered open slightly. “Ron?”

“Sorry to disappoint. Wrong Weasley. Want me to get him?” George offered.

She shook her head. “Not taking his job seriously.” She sighed still half asleep.

“Who’s not taking his job seriously?”

“Ron.” She said with her eyebrows creased in the middle. “I’m doing all the work.”

“You should loosen up, Hermione. You could take a lesson from Fred and I. We like to keep life very laid back and fun.” George smiled, he didn’t realize she liked to talk in her sleep.

Hermione opened her eyes and stared at him. “You both are too much.” She drifted back asleep again.

“Too much? Huh. I was thinking we were just beginning to come out of our shells.”

She smiled and laughed slightly. “I would hate to see you two in your full forms.”

“I’ll make sure to visit you as soon as it happens.”

“I’d like that…”

“You’d like what, Hermione?” George was leaning in, fully sucked into the sound of her voice as she sighed and whispered in her sleep.

“Mmmm.” She sighed and curled up to the pillow on the armchair. “Weasley.”

George chuckled to himself. “Ron is a lucky guy, Hermione.” His chest felt tight. Why was he sad by her dreaming about her brother? They were bound to be together. They fought already like an old married couple every other day.

She shook her head. “Not Ro—” Hermione sighed and trailed off from her sentence.

His heart skipped a beat. Before he could ask her another question, Fred put a hand on his shoulder. “Thanks, Mate. We sold out of our Extendable Ears we better get on making more of them sooner rather than later.”

“Sold out? Bloody hell, how long have I been sitting over here?”

“Couple hours, I suppose.”

“Hours?” George looked around and realized that the party had winded down and everyone was going off to their respected dormitories. “I should wake her and tell her people are going to bed.”

Fred smiled and raised his eyebrows. “Just being a good friend, right?” He turned on his heels and took the empty Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes boxes up to the 7th years dormitory room before Hermione could wake and see the evidence.

George sighed and had a feeling that Fred was always thinking one step ahead of him. He put his hand gently on Hermione’s shoulder. “Hermione… Hermione… everyone’s gone to bed.”

She opened her eyes with a flutter. “George?”

“Everyone’s going to bed. A perfect Prefect like yourself should know the importance of getting a full night’s rest.” He smiled and poked her side jokingly.

She blushed at the touch and sat up. “How long was I out for?”

He shrugged. “Not sure if I’m being honest. Did you know you talk in your sleep?”

Hermione’s eyes grew wide. “What was I saying…?”

“Something about letting Fred and I off easy and letting us sell our joke products because you are deeply in love with us and want to see us succeed in life.” He winked. “I’m just summarizing of course.”

She rolled her eyes and jokingly threw the scarlet pillow at his face. “Oh, shove off, George. I’m surprised Ginny hasn’t told you all I talk in my sleep. She should know that.”

“She’s heard you talk in your sleep?” George was leaning forward fully intrigued in the conversation as he rested his forearms onto the top of his thighs. “I must ask her what you’ve said. A look in the mind of Hermione Granger is just too good to pace up.”

She rolled her eyes. “My mind is hardly fascinating. I’m nothing more than ordinary.”

“I think you’re extraordinary. You’re like no one I’ve ever met before, Granger.”

Hermione opened her mouth like she was going to say something before deciding against it and smiling. “Thanks, George. I appreciate it.” She stood up and awkwardly smoothed her pleated skirt. “Goodnight, George.”

“Goodnight, Hermione.” He smiled and watched her walk up to the girls dormitory wishing he could’ve heard just a few more moments of her thoughts.

Hermione POV:

Lavendar and Parvati were already asleep or at least had the four poster bed curtains drawn shut to keep the light out in the morning. Hermione walked by their beds and sat at the foot of hers, feeling the comforter to calm herself down. What had George heard her say?

It was rather embarrassing when people could hear her subconscious thoughts. Sometimes Ginny would tell her the things she said the prior night and not even Hermione could remember dreaming those things let alone saying them.

She closed her eyes and tried to focus long and hard on what she had been dreaming about. The only thing that was coming to mind was the Burrow and laughter. It could’ve been anything and she figured she shouldn’t be worrying about it. With a deep breath, Hermione smoothed her hair back into a braid and climbed into the bed. With a flick of her wand, she was changed into pajamas and had the red curtains around the posts drawn shut for the night.

The next morning, Hermione followed Harry and Ron to the Quidditch pitch. “I really think that you should consider doing some homework after practice. This is the O.W.L year after all…”

Fred and George caught up to the Golden Trio with their long strides. “Is Ickle Ronnikins going to show his big brothers up on the pitch today?”

“Shut up.” Ron said and he was messing with the collar of his Quidditch robes.

George smiled. “Don’t worry, Ron. There’s only about a dozen people in the stands ready to see if Gryffindor is even worth worrying about this season.”

Hermione rolled her eyes. “Do you two every stop taunting him?”

Fred smiled brightly. “It’s what brothers do!”

“Honestly, we would be awful at our job if we didn’t give him loads of trouble.” George added as he slung his broomstick over his shoulder.

She rolled her eyes and walked away from the team towards the stands. Ginny was sitting next to Luna Lovegood who was reading a copy of the Quibbler upside down. “Happy day, isn’t it? There aren’t any nargles in the air thankfully.” The Ravenclaw girl breathed dreamily. 

Ginny smiled at Hermione. “Luna is a kind person. I figured we could sit by her.”

She smiled and tried to not think of how ridiculous she though the Lovegood girl was. As the thoughts passed her mind, Luna frowned slightly. “There seems to be Nargles entering your mind. Shame. I thought they wouldn’t be near the pitch today. I hope they go away soon. They will distract the players’ minds.”

Hermione nodded in a confused way while she sat next to Ginny. She opened up her book of Herbology and took peeps at the team as they practiced. She had to bite her tongue when she heard the Slytherins’ who were watching the practice sneer every time Ron dropped the quaffle or let one go through the ring.

All of a sudden, Angelina blew a whistle and Hermione looked up. She was trying to find the reason why the practice would stop abruptly when Ginny cried out. “Oh no, Katie!”

The Gryffindor girl was covered in blood and chalk white. Fred, George, and Angelina were flying as fast as they could to get to the girl before she passed out and fell off of her broom. Hermione closed her book angrily. It had to have been something to do with Fred and George’s products. She knew they weren’t safe.

Fred and George were taking Katie’s arms and hoisting them over their shoulders. They had to duck down to not drag the poor girl since they were so much taller than her. When Hermione got to the bottom of the pitch from the stands, they were already making their way to the hospital wing. “This was your doing wasn’t it?” She snipped.

“She… might have swallowed a Blood Blisterpod by mistake…” Fred looked guilty as the girl’s nose continued to bleed profusely.

“I told you. I warned you. Your products aren’t safe yet for distribution. This is your final warning before I start taking action and giving you both detentions!” Hermione cried out in frustration. “Why don’t any of you Weasleys’ think?”

George squared his shoulders. “We are thinking, Hermione. We are trying to build a life for ourselves. With or without your support.”

“It’ll be without until you can safely distribute your products.”

“Fine.” George snipped before helping his twin to the hospital wing with Katie.

She breathed heavily at the interaction with the twins. Hermione had felt so much rage inside her pulsing through her veins. Why could the Weasley boys get under her skin so easily? She shook her head and headed to the Gryffindor Common Room, not wanting to talk to anyone else for the rest of the day.

George POV

He felt like a real git seeing Hermione get so upset. She just didn’t understand. No one did really. Fred and he were not made for desk jobs! How hard was it to see that? They wanted to make something for themselves and go out into the world making people happy.

Katie Bell was recovering in the Hospital Wing. She punched both of the boys in the arms when she found out it was one of their products that caused her to almost faint. “You owe me an Extendable Ear so I can spy on the boys dormitory in peace.”

Fred smiled. “Wicked. We knew you would forgive us.”

She smirked and laughed. “When did I say that?”

“You can’t stay mad at us! Look at these faces.” George smiled and winked at the chaser.

“You got me there, boys. Can you tell the others, I’m fine? I don’t want any of them to worry. Besides… I just want to sleep for a bit.” Her eyes were drooping, and the twins got up saying their goodbyes to the girl.

When they made it through the entryway, they saw Hermione Granger tearing down all of their posters from around the cozy common room. “What on Earth are you doing, Granger?” George asked as he put his hand on top of hers to prevent her from ripping a bright orange sign off the wall. “It’s bad for business.”

“Do you know what else is bad for business?” She raised an eyebrow and waited for one of them to come up with a witty response. “Someone getting hurt.”

They looked at their shoes ashamed of what happened on the Quidditch Pitch. “It won’t happen again, Hermione.” Fred pleaded.

“You’re right about that. It won’t happen again. Do you know why?” She wiggled her hand free from George’s grip and crossed her arm. “Because I’ve turned the paperwork in for you both to have detention. You’ll serve it Monday after classes before dinner.”

“You didn’t!” George cried out looking hurt. “Honestly, Hermione. You didn’t.”

She frowned. “I didn’t want to. Do you think I enjoyed turning you two in? Hogwarts is supposed to be a safe place. It can’t be safe if people are bleeding to death! If no one was around Katie she could’ve died. Tell me I’m wrong.” Hermione glanced between the two boys. “No? You can’t? Perhaps it’s because I’m right.”

The twins felt defeated. She ripped the poster down in front of them and ripped it up. George watched the bright paper flutter to the ground with his hope for a good day.

That Monday, the twins were thinking they would be stuck whacking erasers together or cleaning off desks for Professor McGonagall. They were surprised when they were informed, they would be serving detention from Professor Umbridge who was now serving as not only the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher but also as the High Inquisitor which was a new appointed position from the Ministry of Magic.

Angelina peered over at the letter of information directing them to her room at 4 pm. “What on Earth do you think she’ll have you do?”

“Maybe we will have to knit her another ugly cardigan.” Fred suggested as he laughed and threw a grape in the air towards George who caught it in his mouth.

“It’ll be like any other detention. Long and boring. I just hope she doesn’t go over the hour time and we miss dinner.” He sighed. He glanced at Hermione who was reading the Daily Prophet about Umbridge’s new position with a look of stress on her face. He wondered if she regretted turning them in.

The day went by slowly. They were not looking forward to spending more time with the horrible professor who despised them. The twins waltzed into her office at 4 pm on the dot. “You’re late.” She tutted.

“We are right on time, actually.” Fred snipped.

“None-the-less. You will need to begin for your punishment to really sink in.” She giggled like a school girl. “Pull out a piece of parchment.”

“A quill too? Are we doing lines?” George asked with a sigh. How unoriginal this detention was?

“Oh no, you’ll be using my quill. It’s rather special.” Umbridge had them sit down at the table in her office.

“What shall we right?” Fred asked with a huff.

“I shall not cause chaos.” Professor Umbridge grunted and crossed her arms. “I think you both need to get that threw your heads that the world is not meant for rule-breaking and chaos. It is meant for order. I will have order in this school, do you hear me?”

“Loud and clear.” George smiled sarcastically. “You haven’t given us any ink, Professor.”

“Oh… you won’t be needing any.” She smiled darkly and poured herself a cup of tea. “You may begin. I will tell you when you’re finished or until you think you’ve learned your lesson.”

Fred and George began writing over and over again, I will not cause chaos. George winced after a few lines and his hand began to hurt. Fred looked at him with wide eyes. The twins saw each other’s identical hands and noticed that their handwriting was appearing in blood on the back of their hands with their handwriting matching perfectly. “Is there something wrong, boys?” Professor Umbridge smiled.

Fred squared his shoulders. “Not at all.”

“Just fine, actually.” George added before he began to write the line again and again letting the curse dig in deeper on to the back of his hand. With every stroke of the quill, he felt the judgmental stare of Hermione at the pitch and the pale face of Katie Bell. He promised himself he wouldn’t hurt anyone else. He would fix all of the products and bring joy into this world. That was his promise to himself. That is what got him through the pain.


	6. Hermione's Idea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Harry. You’re the Chosen One. You fought You-Know-Who and won! You’ve faced Mermen, Dragons, Sphinxes, Basilisks… you’re an expert at such a young age already. Let alone you know how to cast a Patronus.” She held onto her friend’s robe and refused to let him walk away from the conversation.  
> “Hermione…”  
> “Would you rather have all of those people get caught up in this mess and be unprepared? Think of Cedric, Harry. He was prepared and still didn’t make it. Now think of what would happen if Volde… Volde… Voldemort…” She shuddered at the name before continuing. “If Voldemort attacked me, Ginny, Neville… any of us! We wouldn’t last a second.”  
> Harry’s eyes darkened at the thought of that. “No one will want to come and learn.”  
> Hermione bit her lip. “How about a deal? I get the people and a meeting palce and you just talk. If they’re interested, they sign up. If more than just myself and Ron sign up, you teach them. If we are the only two then fine. You win and I’m wrong.”  
> He laughed. “I’d like for you to say that I’m wrong.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone who may be reading this! I hope you enjoy this chapter. :)

Chapter Six

George POV

The twins were trying to work on a way of covering their fresh scar on the back of their hands from detention, but they were unsuccessful in their attempts. “No point in trying to hide it. We will just have to act confident and hope no one notices.” Fred sighed. “Ready?”

“Ready.” George sighed before painting a perfect smile on his face. They both had the same easy going smiles on their face and were laughing to each other when they reached the bottom of the staircase to the common room. Hermione got up from a golden colored arm chair and tucked her book that she must’ve been reading under her arm. She stormed up to them and they froze. “Good morning, Hermione.” George smiled.

“We haven’t gotten in trouble yet today. We swear.” Fred added.

“No need to send us to detention.” They laughed together.

She was in no mood to laugh. “Let me see your hand.”

The mood instantly shifted. Fred and George shoved their hands into their jean pockets. “What’re you so worried about, Hermione?”

“Let me see your hand. Now.” Hermione growled and dug George’s hand out of his jean pocket.

“Jeez, Hermione take me on a date first—” the joke was cut off by Hermione’s whimper at seeing the angered scar on the back of his hand.

“I did this.” Tears welled into her eyes. “I caused this.”

George saw the girl break down in front of him and he whipped away the tears that were falling onto her flushed cheeks. “No… no… it’s not your fault. We would’ve ended up in detention anytime!”

“Yea we get loads of detentions, Granger.” Fred patted the girls back. “Don’t need to worry those curls off of your head.”

“There needs to be changes around Hogwarts. Umbridge is not a fit teacher. She’s a horrible and evil lady.” Hermione leaned into George’s hand and it made his heart feel lighter. He smiled at the Gryffindor Prefect in front of him. Had she always had those golden tints in her brown hair?

Fred sighed. “You’re telling us. The 7th years are doing studies that they worked on from the 2nd year. It’s like she’s trying to get us killed once we all graduate.”

Hermione froze. “Yea… it’s like she’s trying to make everyone unprepared for a war…” her composure changed, and George whipped away the last of her tears. She smiled thankfully and said quickly. “I have to go… I have an idea and I don’t want it to slip away from me before I turn it into a reality.” She turned on her heels and ran out of the common room.

“Mental she is sometimes. I don’t know what you see in her.” Fred said casually but it stopped George in his tracks.

“What?”

“Oh, come off of it. You are so obviously obsessed with the girl. When she walks into a room you look at her and you are always trying to comfort her.” His twin tossed a toffee up and down casually. “I just wish you would admit it.”

“There’s nothing to admit.” George flushed and sank into an armchair. He was thinking of the way she held his hand and the way she leaned into his touch. Was he really obsessed with Hermione Granger? The girl who he had grown up with. The girl that he had thought was obsessed with Ron up until this small and fleeting moment.

“Look at the way you look at each other.” Fred shook his head. “Never mind. I wouldn’t believe me either. I like to lie a lot. Remember that time that I lied to mum and told her that Ron was the one who ate all the cookies when in reality we—”

“—used them as bludgers. Yes, I remember.” George laughed quietly at the memory. He wasn’t really feeling up for talking right now and his twin seemed to get that.

“I’m going to work on selling some products. I’ll be back before you know it. Besides, Angelina wanted to talk to me about detention. Talk later?” Fred smiled and was out of the common room to look for his girlfriend.

George sunk his head back into the chair and closed his eyes. He began to daydream about gold specks of hair and warm brown eyes. He drifted away thinking of Hermione Granger.

Hermione POV

Hermione needed to first convince Harry to teach others what he had learned from all of those perilous moments at Hogwarts. He wasn’t too keen to the idea. “No one will even want to learn from me. I’m no one special.” Harry tried to ignore her and go back to the magazine on quidditch broomsticks and gear that he had borrowed at the library table.

“Harry. You’re the Chosen One. You fought You-Know-Who and won! You’ve faced Mermen, Dragons, Sphinxes, Basilisks… you’re an expert at such a young age already. Let alone you know how to cast a Patronus.” She held onto her friend’s robe and refused to let him walk away from the conversation.

“Hermione…”

“Would you rather have all of those people get caught up in this mess and be unprepared? Think of Cedric, Harry. He was prepared and still didn’t make it. Now think of what would happen if Volde… Volde… Voldemort…” She shuddered at the name before continuing. “If Voldemort attacked me, Ginny, Neville… any of us! We wouldn’t last a second.”

Harry’s eyes darkened at the thought of that. “No one will want to come and learn.”

Hermione bit her lip. “How about a deal? I get the people and a meeting palce and you just talk. If they’re interested, they sign up. If more than just myself and Ron sign up, you teach them. If we are the only two then fine. You win and I’m wrong.”

He laughed. “I’d like for you to say that I’m wrong.”

She slapped his arm playfully. “It’s a deal.” Hermione smiled with a rush of excitement now that Harry had decided that he would teach the others. “I have to go tell others.”

Her friend shook his head and looked back down at his Quidditch magazine before she ran away to find others. She knew that she would want to talk to Ginny. Last time she saw her was in the Common Room.

When she entered in the common room, she looked for the infamous Weasley hair and caught a glance of some flaming hair but not the one she wanted. George was sleeping in an armchair by the fire with his neck craned back so his head was resting against the back of it. Hermione bit her cheek. She didn’t want to wake him but she also need she needed to get the ball rolling before the trip to Hogsmeade which is when she planned on telling people the first meeting would take place.

Carefully, she sat down on the coffee table in front of the chair. Her hand reached out and touched his knee, shaking it gently. He stirred and opened his eyes. George smiled when he caught a glance of Hermione. “Am I dreaming?”

“Oh, shove off, Weasley. I’m here to tell you some exciting news.” She could feel the energy radiating off of her. “It’s top secret…”

George leaned forward in his seat until his face was inches away from hers. “I love secrets.”

Her cheeks flushed red hot at the feeling of his breath against her face and the smell of vanilla flooded her senses. Instead of backing up, she remained brave and continued on. “How do you feel of learning Defensive Magic from Harry? He’s able to produce a Patronus charm and he’s brilliant for his age.”

The boy seemed to consider this. “When?”

“Hogsmeade trip. We will meet at The Hog’s Head since it’s more off the beaten path and no one will hear us. Invite people. Trustworthy people who want to learn how to fight.” Hermione loved the look of rebellion that was stewing in his warm and kind eyes.

“I think Freddie and I can come up with some people. I just have to say. I’m very surprised by you, Granger.”

“How so?” She leaned in slightly closer and narrowing her eyes.

“Something so… risky it’s not like little Miss. Prefect to do.” George laughed slightly and looked deep into her eyes.

Hermione realized how close they were to each other in the loud and crowded Common Room. She immediately began to worry about what others would think. She turned her attention back to George and smiled. “I’m more than a Prefect. Just like I’m sure you’re more than a prankster. I just haven’t gotten the opportunity to meet that side just yet.”

George winked. “I have multiple sides of me. I’m an open book so it’s just for you to seek out and see the real me.”

Hermione bit her lip to hide a smile and got up. She felt dizzy from the energy that was between the two of them. She looked around the common room and saw two other red-heads in the entryway of the Common Room staring at the scene that just happened. Ron and Ginny were looking at them. “I’ve got to go tell the others. Please pass along the news, George.”

“Anytime, Granger.” He smiled at her and leaned his head back against the back of the armchair, staring at the ceiling of the common room with a strange look on his face.

Hermione bound over to the other Weasleys’. “Hermione…” Ginny smirked.

“Not now.” She giggled. “I have news. Harry agreed to teach people Defensive Magic. Get trustworthy people who are wanting to learn and will keep it a secret. Umbridge cannot find out.”

Ginny flashed the same rebellious look that Ginny had. “Brilliant! I’m going to tell Luna Lovegood. She’s a kind and trustworthy person, I promise.”

Hermione nodded as Ginny disappeared out of the common room. Ron turned to her with a look of confusion on his face. “What is that all about? Was George flirting with you?”

“Doesn’t he do that with everyone?” Hermione asked and shook her head as if that was obvious.

Ron chuckled. “Oh, yea. I guess he does do that a lot.” He plopped down onto one of the wooden chairs by a circular table in the corner. Hermione joined him. “Do you mind helping me with my homework? I have loads to do and you’re just so smart and better at all this stuff.” He looked at her with the kind blue eyes that she felt like she could fall into. Her heart skipped a beat again and she rolled her eyes.

“You are so lazy, Ron. I will only write the introduction. Nothing more.” She shook her head and opened her book up to go into her reading for the day.

He smiled. “Thank you, Hermione. You’re a life saver.” Ron put his hand on top of hers and rested his head on top of the two hands as if he was bowing to her.

The girl giggled in return.

George POV

Hermione’s giggles filled the common room and it made his stomach lurch. How could things have changed so quickly to last year to now? He couldn’t look up because he knew that Ron was causing her to giggle.

How wrong of him to be jealous of his own brother. He had no right. He wasn’t dating Hermione. In fact, Ron was much closer to her than George was.

Fred appeared and looked down at him. “You look absolutely horrible, mate.”

George sighed. “Thanks.” He sat up and saw that Fred was with Lee and Angelina which was perfect. “I need to talk to you lot. It’s a secret.”

His twin cast a silencing charm around them so that no one could over hear their conversation. George filled them in on the plan and saw all of their eyes light up. “Brilliant!” His twin cried out and Angelina gave him a look.

“What happens if we get caught? I don’t want any of us getting hurt…” She bit her lip and looked down at Fred’s hand.

“Don’t worry. We’re Gryffindors we are meant to go out and get a little dirty. Where’s your bravery!” Fred twirled her around and she shook her head.

“You’re ridiculous, Fred Weasley.” She sighed. “Okay… I’m in.”

The four smiled at each other. Lee added. “We should ask Alicia and Katie to join as well. They will be real pissed if they find out that we had joined an organization without them.”

“You also just want to get a chance to kiss Alicia.” Angelina rolled her eyes.

“Who doesn’t.” Lee winked and darted out to go and find the two Gryffindor chasers.

Angelina was on his heels screaming, “Wait for me!”

The twins were left standing in the common room with the silencing charm still cast around them. “Would you like to talk yet?” Fred asked.

“I don’t know, Fred. What is there to say?” George shrugged.

His twin took a glance to see Ron and Hermione laughing at one of the corner tables. “If it is worth anything… I think you would make her laugh more in her lifetime than he would.” Fred gently patted George’s shoulder and walked outside of the silencing charm to the boys’ dormitory.

George refused to sink back into the chair since he finally found the courage to stand up. He tore his eyes away from the two at the table and followed his twin up the stairs. His feet felt heavier as he tried to climb the winding tower to his dorm. At least if he collapsed into his bed in thought, it would be in privacy and not in the middle of the common room. At least there too, he didn’t have to hear the girls laugh in between dumb jokes from his own brother.


	7. Disarming Charms

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the parchment was passed around, every student had signed it. Some were nervous about it but everyone eventually agreed. She smiled to herself and put the list of names into her bag. “Well time’s ticking by. George, Lee, and I have got items of a sensitive nature to purchase, we’ll be seeing you all later.” Fred winked at Angelina before leaving the pub.   
>  “Don’t get into too much trouble.” Hermione rolled her eyes.  
>  George pretended to look hurt. “Trouble? Never! I’m the perfect student, Miss. Prefect Granger.” He winked and followed his twin out of the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone who is reading this! I hope you enjoy this chapter of Always and Forever. As always, I don't own any rights to the characters. I'm just a softie for George Weasley...

Chapter Seven

Hermione POV

The day finally came of the Hogsmeade trip. She was nearly jumping up in down with the nerves that were filling her entire being. Anyone who was walking by would just assume that the curly haired girl was excited to get a break from the castle. How wrong would they be? If was safe enough to have the meeting earlier in the castle somewhere, she would have pushed for it. With Umbridge as the new High Inquisitor it just simply was not an option.

When the trio stood in front of the meeting place, Hermione was nervous. The sign of the Hog’s Head was cracked, and the pub looked run down. “Well, come on.” She held her head up high and with all the Gryffindor bravery she could summon, stepped inside.

The three students were looking around and Ron’s eyes lit up as he eyed the old bartender. “I bet we could order anything we liked in here, I want to try a fire whisky—”

“Ronald! You are a prefect! That would be a horrible way to influence others. We need our heads clear.” She hit his arm.

“Calm down, Hermione. It’s not like it would matter.”

She hit him again and he finally resigned to simply ordering a butterbeer. Once the three were seated, other students began to walk in. Hermione nudged Harry who gave her a small smile when Cho Chang walked in. He still had a rather large crush on her from last year and this should give him some courage.

Hermione blushed as the twins walked in with Lee Jordan. George looked at the girl and jokingly said, “These bags from Zonko’s are not going to be used for pranks. Scouts honor.” He winked at her before the three sat next to the Gryffindor Chasers who claimed a table already.

What is wrong with you, Hermione? It’s just… George. She shook her head as if to clear it and focused back on the task at hand. Once everyone was settled with a drink, the girl stood up in front of the large group of students. “Umm… well, hello. You all know why we are her. Harry here had the idea—I mean—” he nudged her and shot her a look “Well actually I suppose I was the one who came up with the idea. We might be good if people who wanted to study Defense Against the Dark Arts and not just read about it—I mean—” She closed her eyes sharply silently cursing to herself that she hadn’t wrote down what she wanted to say. When her brown eyes opened back up she caught George smiling at her, encouraging her to continue. Suddenly, she was filled with the courage to go on. She flipped her curly hair behind her shoulder and held her chin up high. “I thought it would be a good idea if we took matters into our own hands and found a teacher that actually could instruct us on how to defend ourselves. By that I mean, learn from casting actual spells not just books and theory. I want to be properly trained in Defense because Lord Voldemort’s back.”

Hermione heard gasps of shock in the room, but her focus stayed locked on George’s eyes. He smiled proudly at her and nodded in agreement with what she had just said.

“Where’s the proof?” A Hufflepuff boy interrupted the Gryffindors’ locked eyes.

The golden trio turned to look at him. “Dumbledore believes it—”

“You mean, Dumbledore believes him.” He pointed to Harry who had stiffened next to Hermione.

Ron rudely sneered at the boy. “Who are you?”

“Zacharias Smith and I think we’ve got the right to know exactly what makes him say You-Know-Who is back.”

Harry finally stood next to her. “What makes me say he’s back? I saw him. But Dumbledore told the whole school what happened last year and if you didn’t believe him, you don’t believe me, and I’m not wasting an afternoon trying to convince anyone. You can leave if that’s all you’re here for.”

“So…” Hermione continued as no one got up to leave the pub. “If you want to learn some defensive spells, then we need to work out how we’re going to do it, how often we’re going to meet, and where we’re going to practice these spells. It will all be quite challenging with Umbridge, but we can manage.”

George smiled at her and added from his seat. “Harry can produce a full patronus. It’s a stag and he used it this summer to defend himself against dementors.”

The other students looked shocked and whispered to each other the news that a fifth year could do such advanced magic. Hermione looked grateful at George. “He also killed a basilisk with the sword of Gryffindor.” She added and put a hand on her friend’s shoulder. “He’s an excellent teacher and we would all be lucky to learn from him.”

Soon all of the students were agreeing to learn and to be able to properly defend themselves. Hermione felt emotions rushing through her, the main one being pride from her plan going smoothly. “Now we just have to figure out where we are going to meet…”

“Library?” Katie Bell suggested.

“I can’t see Madam Pince being too pleased with us doing jinxes in there. Let alone, Umbridge would find out almost immediately.” Harry shook his head. “Library won’t do.”

No one could come up with a decent place for them to practice. The girl felt slightly defeated. “No matter. We will think of something. For now… I would like everyone to sign this so that I can send a message of when we have figured a time and place.” She blushed slightly and felt guilty about handing out a magical piece of parchment. The secrecy of this meeting was at the utmost importance and it didn’t matter what people thought of her jinxing the parchment. She had to get everyone to sign it. “I also think that we all ought to agree not to talk about this. If you sign, you’re agreeing not to tell Umbridge or anyone else about this.”

Fred popped up from his seat first. “Let’s do this!” He signed his name and held up the parchment cheerfully. “Who’s next?”

After the parchment was passed around, every student had signed it. Some were nervous about it but everyone eventually agreed. She smiled to herself and put the list of names into her bag. “Well time’s ticking by. George, Lee, and I have got items of a sensitive nature to purchase, we’ll be seeing you all later.” Fred winked at Angelina before leaving the pub.

“Don’t get into too much trouble.” Hermione rolled her eyes.

George pretended to look hurt. “Trouble? Never! I’m the perfect student, Miss. Prefect Granger.” He winked and followed his twin out of the door.

Hermione’s heart sped up and she blushed as he left. Soon all the students began leaving the pub in small groups. When they were all gone, Ron began complaining about the ruder students as if forgetting his tone to others throughout the entire time he spoke at the pub.

The Gryffindor girl nudged her dark-haired friend and smiled. “So you and Cho?”

“What do you mean, Hermione?” Harry looked confused.

“She couldn’t keep her eyes off of you, could she?” Hermione giggled and slung her bag over her shoulder.

Harry looked over her shoulder and dropped his voice when Ron wasn’t paying attention. “I could say the same thing to you about George, couldn’t I?”

George POV

The day of the first meeting of Dumbledore’s Army was filled with a buzz that excited George. Since Umbridge became a staff member at the school, Hogwarts felt boring and flat. No one wanted to step out of line except for Harry and the twins it had seemed.

Hermione was leading a group of students with Harry next to her. The boy was muttering to himself about Dobby the house elf telling him where to go. The girl stopped in her tracks and looked at a polished door that was not at the wall moments ago. “Harry… look.”

When the group walked in, they were surprised to see walls lined with bookcases and large silk cushions on the floor. George had a strange feeling of déjà vu and he looked at Fred who seemed to be experiencing the same thing.

His twin said, “We once hid from Filch in here, do you remember? It was only a broom cupboard then in our third year.”

“I knew that this felt familiar… how strange…” George drifted off in thought thinking of the magic that was built behind this room.

Harry stood in front of the others and cleared his throat. “Right well… I think we should begin with the basics. I have used disarming spells often in dangerous situations. I think we should begin on that before moving onto more challenging spells.”

The same Hufflepuff boy who complained at the pub sneered at Potter. “Oh please. You can’t honestly convince me you’ve used it against You-Know-Who.”

“If you think it’s beneath you, the door is behind you.” Harry raised his eyebrow and crossed his arms. The Hufflepuff didn’t move. “Alright then. Moving on. I think we should pair up with other students and try practicing it on others. I’ll come around and help you out.”

George turned to pair up with Fred but Angelina beat him too it. His twin shrugged and said an apology before going with his girlfriend to pair up. He turned to Lee who had also paired up with Katie Bell already. He sighed and felt like he was going to get stuck with one of the first years when someone tapped his shoulder. “Looking for a partner?”

He turned around and saw Hermione granger slightly blushing in front of him. “That would be great, Granger! Thanks! I’ll promise to go easy on you.” George winked playfully at the girl.

“Easy on me? I don’t think that’ll be necessary, Weasley.” She crossed her arms. “I’ll have you know; I’ve helped Harry out loads of time.”

“Oh, trust me. I know that if you weren’t helping those two.” He nodded his head towards Ron and Harry. “They would’ve been toast within their first couple years of school here. You’re the brains of the group.”

She smiled proudly at the compliment. He meant every word of it. Hermione was a brilliant leader and didn’t get enough credit for all of the good things she has done over the years.

The room was filled with shouts of the spell and bright sparks of red. Hermione turned out to be great at spells. She disarmed George her first shot and smiled smugly. They practiced back and forth. One of the times when her wand flew into his hand, she walked up to him and sniffed. “I only let you do that, George.”

He smiled wickedly and held her wand up high over her head. “Is that so?”

She tried biting her lip to hide a smile that was growing over her face. “George Weasley. Give me my wand back!” Hermione giggled.

“Not until you tell me that you were genuinely trying and that I, humble George Weasley, disarmed you.” He smiled back at her and continued to wave her wand in the air.

She tried jumping up and grabbing it but this only made him hold her wand up higher into the air. “No cheating out of saying you’re wrong, Hermione. I hardly get to hear those words from you. I’m not going to let this go.”

Hermione rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. “Fine.” She dramatically flipped her hair over her shoulder. “I, Hermione Granger, Prefect of Gryffindor house, was deeply wrong and was disarmed by George Weasley. Now will you give me my wand back?”

George winked and dropped the wand into her hand. There hands touched when he placed the wand in her hand. She wrapped her fingers around his and they looked into each others eyes, frozen in time.

“I DID IT!” Neville boomed from across the room.

The two dropped their hands and looked at the Gryffindor boy who was holding Luna Lovegood’s wand high up in the air. Everyone began cheering him on, proud of the work he accomplished in one lesson. “I think this is a great time to stop for today.” People groaned and George felt panicked. His time with Hermione had run out. “You’ve all done great work today! How about we meet same time and same place next week.”

Angelina made a panicked sound from the back of her throat. “The Quidditch season’s about to start, we need team practices too! You should know that Harry.”

“Oh, sorry. You’re right. How about next Wednesday night, then and we can decide on additional meetings then.” He pulled out the Marauder’s Map out of his back pocket and checked it. “I’ll dismiss you all in threes and fours, so no one is suspicious. 3 from Hufflepuff can go. You have a clear path.”

George turned around when it was his turn to leave with Lee and Fred. Hermione was smiling at him and gave him a small wave. It filled him with enough spirit to face the next day of lessons with Umbridge.

Once the door was shut behind them, Fred turned to his twin. “George.”

“Fred?”

“Why don’t you just snog her in front of the entire room if you’re going to be making it so obvious you want to kiss the girl.” His twin smiled to show that he wasn’t making fun of George, but rather encouraging him to make a move.

He shook his head. “I don’t know if it’s the right timing. Right person, wrong time sort of thing.” His chest felt heavy. If only he had experienced these feelings last year he could’ve had an excuse like the Yule Ball to talk to her.

Lee smiled sympathetically at his friend. “You’ll figure it out, Georgie. If it makes a difference, I think she stares at you just as much as you stare at her.”

That news added some energy into George’s walk and he waltzed into the Gryffindor Common room playing out various scenarios in his head that all including getting to know Hermione Granger more.


	8. Quidditch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the team scarfed down a breakfast, minus Ron, they went to the stadium. There wasn’t any wind, but the sky was a bright white. The team began to change into their robes and George tucked the fake galleon into his uniform socks. He wanted Hermione to be with him when he was up on his broomstick.
> 
> Fred was the only one who noticed, and he gave his twin a smile. “DA meeting being called during a game? Please let me know if that happens.” He winked before turning back to finish changing.

Chapter Eight

George POV

The morning of the first Quidditch match of the season filled his stomach with nerves and excitement. He wasn’t sure if he should take his fake coin with him that they had all received at the last Dumbledore’s Army meeting. He decided it wouldn’t hurt. Besides, Hermione had charmed it. Perhaps it would be his good luck charm. He stuffed it into his sock before changing to go to the Great Hall.

The weather was rather cold for the first match of the season. When Fred and George walked into the Great Hall, the Slytherin table hissed at them. “Bloody idiots. They probably think they’re actually serpents.” Fred rolled his eyes and plopped at the table next to the other Gryffindor players.

Ron looked like he was going to throw up from the pressure. “You all right, Ron?” Harry asked his friend. “You need breakfast. Eat.”

“I’m not hungry.” Ron looked disgustedly at the food.

“That’s a first.” Hermione huffed and looked back down at the book she was reading.

George had to hold in a laugh for his brother’s sake. He tried to think back to his first year on the Quidditch team. It had been so long ago, but he still remembered the nerves that filled his bones. He luckily had Fred to work his way through the dilemma with.

After the team scarfed down a breakfast, minus Ron, they went to the stadium. There wasn’t any wind, but the sky was a bright white. The team began to change into their robes and George tucked the fake galleon into his uniform socks. He wanted Hermione to be with him when he was up on his broomstick.

Fred was the only one who noticed, and he gave his twin a smile. “DA meeting being called during a game? Please let me know if that happens.” He winked before turning back to finish changing.

“It’s time. Let’s go.” Angelina said in a rough voice. “Good luck, everyone.”

The other team was already standing waiting for the Gryffindors. Their emerald green robes were in pristine condition, possibly new. “Captains shake hands.” Madame Hooch ordered.

Montague was trying to crush Angelina’s fingers, but she didn’t even flinch. “Thatta girl.” Fred said under his breath.

When everyone mounted their brooms, it was a normal Quidditch match against Slytherin. They always were playing dirty. George made sure to smack Bludgers away from Harry and the girls as well as he could.

He froze momentarily when he heard a song being sung from the Slytherin stands. George listened closely. “ _Weasley cannot save a thing/ He cannot block a single ring./ That’s why Slytherins all sing: Weasley is our king”_. He groaned and hoped that his younger brother didn’t hear it.

His hopes for Ron not hearing the song soon vanished. Every single time that Ron let in a quaffle and Slytherin scored, the students from that house seemed to get louder. All George could do was try to hit the beater towards Malfoy and the Chasers on the Slytherin team. He prayed that Harry caught the snitch before it was too late.

As if he read George’s mind, Harry dove straight to the ground. He was flying fast and was almost at the ground when SMACK a bludger hit him square in the back of the head. George whipped his head around to see the Slytherin beater looking very happy about his aim. “You’ll regret that!” The twins roared while the Slytherin beater rolled his eyes at them.

Harry seemed alright enough. It hadn’t even matter that Crabbe tried to knock out the seeker, it didn’t work. Harry had caught the snitch during his dive!

The team went to the ground and everyone was clapping Harry on the back. Malfoy landed near them and smiled evily at them. “Good thing your team has you, Harry. You really saved that horrible Keeper.”

George looked at Ron. “Ignore him. I do.”

The teams lined up to shake hands and Malfoy continued. “Too bad we didn’t have time to write a couple more versus. We wanted to write about a mother but couldn’t think of anything that rhymed with fat and ugly. We also couldn’t fit in useless loser either to honor his father, you know.” The twins realized what Malfoy was saying and stiffened together in unison.

Angelina was behind them and hissed. “Leave it!” She grabbed onto Fred by the arm. “Leave it, Fred, let him yell, he’s just a sore he lost.”

George hadn’t realized it but Harry had grabbed onto his own arm to prevent him from lunging at Malfoy. “Potter you like the Weasleys’ don’t you! I don’t know how you could stand the stink. They can’t afford any proper things to keep that house and their things nice.”

The twins were now trying to lunge and grab at the Slytherin boy. Harry had to wrap both of his arms around George to prevent him from fighting him while Angelina, Katie, and Alicia were holding Fred back. Draco laughed at the scene and wiggled his eyebrows. “Perhaps… you can remember that your mother’s house stank like, Potter, and the Weasley’s pigsty reminds you of her.”

Magically, arms were no longer holding George back. He didn’t even think. Harry and George were sprinting towards Draco and began to punch and kick the cruel boy. George could only vaguely hear the girls’ voices screaming for them to stop. He was too focused on causing as much pain to the awful Slytherin boy. “What do you think you’re doing?” Screamed Madam Hooch.

George and Harry were hoisted by a charm. He was only vaguely aware that he had a swollen lip. He smiled when he saw that Malfoy was curled on the ground crying with a bloody nose.

“Both of you need to report to your head of house. Immediately.” Hooch yelled at them.

The boys marched up to the castle, not saying anything to the other. When they reached McGonagall’s office she was looking more severe than ever. “I’ve never seen such a disgraceful exhibition. Two onto one! That’s not right. Explain yourself, immediately.”

Harry angrily spit out. “Malfoy provoked us!”

“What on earth could that boy have said to justify what you two—”

George snarled. “He insulted my parents. And Harry’s mother. I think that justifies it enough.”

“Instead of leaving it to Madam Hooch to sort out, you two decided to give Muggle dueling a try, did you?” McGonnagal ripped off her Gryffindor scarf and cross her arms. “Have you any idea—”

“Hem, hem.”

George stiffened. He knew that voice.

Umbridge was standing in the doorway. “The Minister just sent Educational Decree Number Twenty-five which gives the High Inquisitor all the authority of punishments, sanctions, and removal of privileges pertaining to the students of Hogwarts, and the power to alter such punishments, sanctions, and removals of privileges as may have been ordered by other staff members. Seeing as I am now in charge of the punishment for these players, I have decided that they should be banned from playing Quidditch ever again.”

“Ban us?” Harry asked astonished. George felt like he wanted to puke.

“Yes, Mr. Potter, I think a lifelong ban ought to do the trick. You and Mr. Weasley here. And I think, to be safe, this young man’s twin ought to be stopped too—if his teammates and not restrained him, I’m afraid all three would have attacked the poor Slytherin boy. I will want your broomsticks and I will keep them safely in my office.”

George felt like the room was spinning and he was sure he was going to puke when Umbridge took his broomstick and walked out of the office.

Hermione POV

The Gryffindor room was in a foul mood despite winning the game against Slytherin. George and Harry were telling the rest of the team what had happened. Angelina looked like she wanted to cry. “Banned? No Seeker and no Beaters… What are we supposed to do.”

Alicia spat at the fire. “I’m assuming Slytherin hardly has any punishment at all for trying to knock Harry out with the Bludger.”

Ginny nodded sadly. “He only got lines.”

“And banning Fred is just ridiculous!” Katie added. “He didn’t even do anything!” She punched the pillow that was sitting over her lap.

Fred looked darkly at the girls. “It’s not my fault I didn’t. I would’ve pounded the asshole to a pulp if you all hadn’t been holding me back.”

Angelina shook her head. “Unbelievable, Fred. Really. I’m going to bed.”

The other girls followed behind her in a trail. “Wait… Angelina…” Fred jumped up and stood at the bottom of the girls’ dormitory calling after her to come back down so he could apologize.

“I’m going to tell Ron what has happened.” Harry pushed himself up from the sofa and walked to the boys dormitory.

Hermione noticed that George couldn’t take his eyes off of the flickering flames of the fire. “You okay, George?”

“Hermione. You’re a bright witch. What do you think?” He closed his eyes with such force it was like he was trying to block out anything from his sight.

“If you want to talk—”

“No. That’s the last thing I want to do is talk about how I ruined the one part of school I like.” George put his hands over his forehead.

Hermione felt hopeless. She wanted to fix things for George but didn’t know how. She lifted her hand up and held it, hesitantly over his back. When she summoned up the courage, she placed her hand on his back.

He stiffened for a moment before relaxing slightly. “I’m sorry.” He mumbled.

“Why are you sorry?”

“I should’ve punched Malfoy a long time ago.” George snickered and dropped his hands from his face. He still wouldn’t look away from the flames, but Hermione saw this as a good sign.

“What’re you going on about, Weasley?” She let out a small giggle which made him relax slightly more while she rubbed his back.

“Back in my fourth year. Your second year. I should’ve decked Malfoy then.” He said the words with sincerity and sorrow. “He deserved it. For what he called you.”

Hermione stopped rubbing his back for a second, shocked. “You remember that?”

“Of course, Hermione. That’s the worst thing you can call someone. I should’ve done something then. Ron tried but… you know the Slug thing.” George shook his head. “I should’ve stood up for you then like I stood up for my parents today.”

She felt herself open her mouth to say something but had no idea what to say. He turned his attention from the flames to her face. “I wouldn’t expect you… it’s okay…” Hermione stammered.

“You’re cute when you don’t know what to say, you know.” George let the words slip out before he realized what he had said. He froze and his eyes grew wide. “I—err—umm—”

Hermione swallowed the shock and smiled. “I could say the same thing of you, George.” She stared at the boy who was smiling back at her.

The girl so desperately wanted to lean in and kiss his smiling lips but… something didn’t feel right. He was so upset still that it didn’t seem right to take advantage of his bad day. She smiled sadly and added. “I think I better turn in.”

George nodded. A strange look crossed his face that she thought was disappointment but she couldn’t tell because it was replaced with his easy-going smile almost immediately. “Good night, Granger. Save me a seat, I suppose at the next Quidditch match. I’ll need company in the stands.” As he finished the sentence, the smile dropped as if he was imagining not flying through the air during the next match. “I’m going to turn in, too. Lot’s to think about. I better go check on Fred, Angelina never came down and I’m sure he’s mad at himself.”

Hermione nodded. “Yea… yea… go check on him. See you, George.” She turned to go up the girl’s dormitory and silently cursed at herself for not trying to kiss him.


	9. Invitations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I wouldn’t invite myself, that’s rude.” She looked offended at the idea.   
>  “Ron didn’t invite you?” George asked. He was shocked. He knew that he always invited Harry to Christmas. Did his brother not extend the invitation to his other friend?  
>  She shook her head. “No… was he supposed to?”

Chapter Nine

George POV

Hogwarts seemed pointless except for DA meetings. He was so thankful whenever nights where they had meetings occurred. Angelina walked up to Fred, George, and Harry before one of the meetings and sighed. “Well… we have finally replaced you lot.”

Fred slumped his shoulders forward in defeat. “I knew it would have to happen, but it just makes it all more real. Who replaced us?”

His girlfriend snorted. “Well you two were replaced by the less of all the idiots, so Andre Kirke and Jack Sloper. The new Seeker is Ginny. You should all congratulate her.”

The three boys didn’t feel like talking. It was as if a book finally closed. No more Quidditch. Harry awkwardly shifted his weight and nodded. “I should begin the meeting. I figured today we would review over everything we have done so far since it’s the last meeting before the holidays.”

The nasty Hufflepuff cried out. “I could’ve studied if I would’ve known we weren’t learning anything new.”

Harry ignored him and went on. “You can get into pairs and begin with the Impediment Jinx for ten minutes and then we can try Stunning agin.”

George looked at Hermione who smiled and walked over to him. “Hey, partner.”

“Anything fun to do over the holidays?” He asked in between their cries of “Impedimenta”.

She shrugged. “I don’t know. I think I’m going to my parents.”

His stomach dropped. “Oh. I guess I assumed you were coming to spend Holiday’s with us.”

“I wouldn’t invite myself, that’s rude.” She looked offended at the idea.

“Ron didn’t invite you?” George asked. He was shocked. He knew that he always invited Harry to Christmas. Did his brother not extend the invitation to his other friend?  
She shook her head. “No… was he supposed to?”

George laughed. “No… I suppose not. Besides, I’d like to formally pass on the information for you to spend the holiday with the noble house of Weasley.” He bowed in a joking manner while the girl giggled.

“I’ll have to send a letter to my parents letting them know where I’ll be going but I would be honored to accept the invitation.” She curtseyed in response to his bow, returning the joke.

“You’re joking, Hermione!” He laughed and winked at the girl.

Once again, the meeting went by too fast. Harry was telling everyone to have a Happy Holiday before he knew it. Hermione looked at George and bit her lip. “Would you mind walking me to the Owlery for me to send a message to my parents tonight? I have parchment and ink in my bag, I can write the letter when we get there.”

His chest filled with sparks like fireworks going off. Instead of showing his excitement he nodded in a nonchalant way. “Sure thing, Granger. I’ll protect you from any Nargles that Luna has been going on about all day.”

The Gryffindor girl rolled her eyes as the two walked out when it was there turn. Hermione looked up at the tall boy when they were going up the winding stairs. “What made you want to invite me to Holiday, George?”

“You’re family.” He shrugged. “You’re always with us. Doesn’t it make sense? It would be like Harry not being there.”

She nodded. He couldn’t read her facial expression on what she thought of this response. “Well, thank you. It feels nice to be wanted somewhere. I don’t get that a lot.”

George’s heart sank for the girl. “People would be stupid to pass up an opportunity to be in the same conversation with you, Hermione. You’re brilliant.” She smiled as she let a Hogwarts owl send her message away.

As they walked back to the common room, he didn’t feel the need to fill the silence with conversation. Having her next to him just felt comforting like a good conversation. When he looked down at her she smiled and looked away, “Did I catch you staring at me, Granger?” George laughed and winked at her.

“I’m just wondering how you’re doing is all. You don’t talk about your feelings a lot.” She admitted. “You don’t have to talk about how you’re doing, I’m just being honest and telling you why I was looking up at you.”

He raised his eyebrows in shock. Not many people took the time to ask either of the twins how they were doing because everyone always assume, they were always happy and joking around. “Oh, you know. Just marvelous.”

“Honestly? What about quidditch and detention?”

“Oh… that stuff.” He shrugged. “Don’t worry about it, Hermione. I’m a big boy I can handle myself. Besides, the extra time from Quidditch practices has helped Fred and I get more time to work on Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes.”

Hermione Granger looked up at him in a business-like manner. “I hope you aren’t testing your products out on others anymore.”

He laughed and wrapped and arm around her shoulder. “Oh, Hermione. Do you ever go on break from being a Prefect?” George extended his arm out in a way like he was showing her something off into the distance, instead of the walls of the castle being in front of them. “Imagine, a joke shop, on Diagon Alley, loaded with anything from wizard to muggle joke shop items as well as sweets and who knows what else! That’s Fred and mines dream after Hogwarts.”

She leaned her head to the side as if imagining the scene in her head. “That’s quite fitting actually. I think you both would be good businessmen.”

George felt like floating. “Really?”

She nodded her head before stopping in front of the Fat Lady portrait. “You both are really good at talking to others. I wish I had that skill. You’ll be able to convince anyone to buy something with your charisma.”

They said the password to get into the common room and stopped in front of the dormitory openings. “Thank you, Hermione.” George smiled down at the curly-haired girl.

“What for?”

“Believing in me.”

She got up on her tippy toes and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “You’re brilliant, George. Don’t let that get to your head.” Hermione tipped her head back and laughed before darting up to the Gryffindor girls room.

George was frozen with the feeling of her warm lips on his cheek, sening electricity down his entire body. Soon, he was able to climb up to the 7th years dorm and flopped onto his bed. “Did you have a nice walk, George?” Fred and Lee sniggered from their own beds.

The boy simply smiled in return and nodded. He would take all the teasing in the world if it meant that Hermione Granger would kiss him on the cheek once more. He went to bed thinking that nothing could go wrong and that he was on the top of the world.

How wrong he was.

He was woken up by Professor McGonagall shaking his form. “George. You must wake up.” She turned and shook Fred up as well.

“What’s going on, Professor?” Fred mumbled and rubbed his eyes. “It has to be the middle of the night!”

“Please, come with me. Professor Dumbledore will explain everything.” The old woman looked nervous and in a hurry.

The boys both flung on slippers and a robe to go over their pajamas before darting down the stairs after their professor. It seemed like she was practically running, trying to get to the Headmasters office.

When they were up the winding stairs and into the office, they noticed that Harry Potter, Ron and Ginny were already in the office. Ginny was sitting on a chair and was wringing her hands on her robe. The twins stood by them with a questioning look on their faces.

Dumbledore was whispering quickly to all of the portraits on the wall before turning his attention briefly to Harry. “So in your dream… were you standing over the attack?”

“Not exactly… I was the one attacking Mr. Weasley.”

“This is not good…” Dumbledore mumbled to himself before going back to the portraits and giving them orders to check on their dad. “We are sending his kids back to the spot and will send their trunks after them.”

Fred and George looked at each other. What was wrong with their dad?  
“Look at me!” Harry Potter roared in a voice that didn’t sound quite like his own.

Dumbledore looked shock and tilted his head back. “Professor Snape, thank you for joining us. I’m afraid the training cannot wait any longer. Please escort Harry to a discrete place so that his thoughts are protected.”

George tried pinching his arm thinking that this was such a strange dream he was having. The pinch hurt and he was still standing in his pajamas in the headmaster’s office. “You all can travel by Floo.” Professor McGonagall handed them a vase filled with powder. “We will send all of your possessions to you for break.”

Fred went to open his mouth and Dumbledore, as if reading his mind, answered. “Yes, Mr. Weasley. All of your items, even the ones that are charmed to be hidden.” The headmaster managed to crack a small smile and a wink before he went back to whispering to the portraits on the wall.

George wished badly that he could go back to his room and tell Hermione that he wasn’t leaving without saying goodbye and that instead an emergency was going on. He silently thanked himself as he climbed into the fire grate that he had extended the invitation for the Holidays when he did. His fingers reached into the pot and grabbed a handful of powder. “No. 12 Grimmauld Place!” He called in a clear voice before getting sucked into the flames.


	10. Spearmint Toothpaste

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After lunch, the boys went to do some homework or at least attempt to do homework in their room. The other four sat in the living room. Fred and Ginny sat in front of the roaring fire to play a game of Wizards Chest while George and Hermione sat on the couch watching them.  
>  “I’m glad I invited you when I did.” George admitted while Ginny and Fred were arguing over their pieces not listening properly to them.   
>  Hermione smiled up at the boy. “Me too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really enjoyed writing this chapter! I hope you all enjoy reading it. Again, I'm writing from the book perspective of events more so than the movie which is why Mr. Weasley is at St. Mungo's and not at No. 12 Grimmauld Place. In the books, he stays at the hospital and the Weasley's visit him.

Chapter Ten

Hermione POV

The Gryffindor girl was thankful when Tonks was escorting her from King’s Cross back to No. 12 Grimmauld Place. The train ride to London was the strangest one she had ever been on. She sat in a compartment with Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood. The strange Ravenclaw girl had been talking nonsense the entire ride back and Neville seemed to cling on to every word she was saying as if the information was the most brilliant things he has ever heard before.

Hermione did feel happy for Neville because it seemed that Luna appreciated his Herbology information that he had to offer when it came to be dealing with the strange mystical creatures that she claimed were giving her headaches.

Regardless, she was happy to get off the train since she was getting anxious wondering how Mr. Weasley was. When she got off, she saw a head of bright pink hair standing in the crowd of people. Tonks did not look relaxed. Her hand was deep into her robes, probably gripping her wand, ready to send a hex at anyone who looked at her wrong.

“Tonks!” Hermione called and waved to signal where she was.

The Order member immediately relaxed and walked over to the girl. “We should go. There are too many parents here that double as death eaters and I’m by myself.”

Once they were away from any muggles, Tonks pulled a full broomstick out of her bag. “Ginny warned me you don’t fly yourself, so I only brought one broom. Hold on tightly.”

Hermione gulped and got on behind Tonks. She gripped the Hufflepuff’s chest and screamed. “I’m ready!”

The Gryffindor girl kept her eyes firmly shut as she felt the wind whip her face. She would not throw up in this time. Hermione was telling herself that this was a normal way for Wizards to travel and that she needed to get used to it if she was to live in this world after graduation and not go back to the muggle world.

“We’re here, Hermione. You can let go.” Tonks said kindly.

Hermione let go of her clutch and got off of the broomstick. She swayed a little bit before Tonks grabbed her shoulders to steady her. “Thanks.” Hermione mumbled before they climbed into the house.

“Hermione!” Ginny boomed and leaped down the last 6 steps before running up to give her friend a hug. “You’ve missed it! Fred and George really pranked Ron. They put a spell that dyes people’s hair and it turned a violent shade of purple. It was amazing. I warned them that if they even tried to do that to my hair, I would hex them into next week.” She laughed and grabbed her friends’ arm, pulling her up the stairs to the room they shared. “How was Hogwarts?”

“Boring of course. How have you all been? How is your dad?” Hermione didn’t feel like talking about sitting in the Great Hall with Neville or sitting on the train with Neville and Luna. They were very kind to not make her sit by herself, but she may as well have been. She didn’t feel like her usual self.

Ginny’s smile faltered but only slightly. “Dad was sent to St. Mungos, it’s a big hospital basically for magical people. If Harry hadn’t…” The girl shook her head as if to force the thought out of her head. Hermione placed a hand over Ginny’s freckled one to help her friend have the courage to go on. “I’m just glad Harry was able to warn Dumbledore when he did. We will all visit him on Christmas Day.”

A loud pop filled the room and the Weasley twins were on either side of the girls. “Holding hands? Are you trying to lay a move on my baby sister?” Fred asked as he bent down to examine the girls’ hands.

Ginny took her arm and elbowed him square in the ribs. “Shove off, Fred. I was filling in Hermione on what’s been going on. She was comforting me.”

“I heard Hermione is great at comforting Weasley’s.” Fred wiggled his eyebrows and made Hermione’s cheeks turn slightly pink.

Ginny swung her head around as if to ask which Weasley Fred was referring to. “I hate secrets.” She mused and gave Hermione a look as if to force her friend to explain later when they were in private.

“How was Hogwarts, Hermione?” George asked to change the subject.

Hermione turned to the boy who was sitting next to her. He had a smile on his face, but she could tell it was stressed from the events that were surrounding his family as of recent. “Oh, it was fine. I just spent most of my time packing and studying for the O.W.L’s. Without Harry and Ron, I actually got quite a lot of work done.”

George rolled his eyes. “I wonder why.”

Ginny and Fred laughed. “You must be hungry.” Ginny added and popped up. “Mom left to visit Dad but there are sandwiches on the table downstairs. We should probably grab something before Ron get’s to them and they’re all gone.”

Ginny and Hermione went to start walking and were surprised when the twins followed behind them. Hermione turned to them, “Got tired of aparating everywhere?”

George blushed while Fred laughed slightly. “Sometimes, people don’t want to speed up time.”

Hermione blushed and turned back around, letting Fred’s words sink in. She could’ve sworn she heard a soft smack behind her as if one of the twins hit the other. Ginny was fighting a smile, which made Hermione think that the event actually occurred. She didn’t have time to analyze it much further since they were in the kitchen surrounding a giant platter of sandwiches and cut up fruits.

The four sat down and ate while the door swung open to the kitchen. Harry and Ron walked in and saw Hermione sitting down. “Hermione!” They called and rushed over to give their friend a hug. She returned the gesture and smiled at them.

“Please don’t ask me how Hogwarts was. I didn’t do much.”

Harry laughed and grabbed a plate of food. “I’m sure that’s not true. The great Hermione Granger probably got all of her break homework done.”

She blushed. He was right. She had gotten all of her work done and had time to study. Ron looked at her with wide eyes. “Can I copy it down?”

Her eyebrows went down and she stared at Ron. “You’re a prefect. You can’t copy down people’s homework. That’s wrong.”

The twins sniggered at Ron’s expression before returning to their sandwiches when Ron gave them a menacing look. “Fine. I guess Harry and I should start working on that soon since we are visiting Dad soon.”

After lunch, the boys went to do some homework or at least attempt to do homework in their room. The other four sat in the living room. Fred and Ginny sat in front of the roaring fire to play a game of Wizards Chest while George and Hermione sat on the couch watching them.

“I’m glad I invited you when I did.” George admitted while Ginny and Fred were arguing over their pieces not listening properly to them.

Hermione smiled up at the boy. “Me too. I would’ve been worried sick the entire Holiday if I didn’t know how the Weasley family was doing. Speaking of which… how are you with all of this going on?”

He sighed deeply and she could see dark spots under his eyes from lack of sleep. “Worried. I think that would be expected in this circumstance.”

She nodded in agreement. “I’m sorry this is all happening.”

“There are consequences for joining the Order. Dad knew them. He is just doing what’s right. That’s why Fred and I are planning on joining right after we leave Hogwarts.” He stood into the flames of the fire as if lost in thought.

“Will you remember me when you’re an important Order member?” She joked.

He smiled. “You’re doing it again.”

“Doing what?”

“Joking.”

She smiled at the assessment. “Maybe, you’re just rubbing off on me, George.”

The pair on the couch didn’t realize that the youngest Weasley had caught onto their conversation. Ginny stared at Fred who simply smiled in response. She got up and rushed out of the room, putting a plan into motion.

George POV

He looked over when Ginny popped up from the ground and rushed out of the room. He was about to ask Fred what was going on, but his twin left after his sister. They were up to something and George wasn’t sure if he wanted to find out what that plan was.

Hermione tucked her legs up to her chest. “What is St. Mungo’s? Is it scary?”

George tilted his head back on the back of the sofa. “The full name is St. Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. It’s basically where you go for a healer when you’re hurt. Kind of like Madam Pomfrey but more serious issues go to St. Mungo’s.”

“So, your fathers injuries are serious?” Hermione looked at him sympathetically.

He cringed at the thought of his father, he was bitten repeatedly by snake while guarding the Department of Mysteries and was on his death bed when they saw him. Apparently, he was getting better, but his mother still wasn’t allowing people to visit until Christmas day. “He was pretty bad, yea.”

Hermione frowned and put her head on his shoulder. George looked at the top of her head in a shocked manner. He let himself relax and rested his cheek onto the top of her head. “I’m sorry, George. Your family doesn’t deserve this. The Weasley family is the kindest lot of people that I know.”

He chuckled. “Thank you, Hermione. This is why we keep you around. You’re too kind.”

They sat like that, tucked up in front of the roaring fire for a while. Until, Ginny called for Hermione from upstairs. “Hermione! Can you help me write a letter to someone?”

Hermione got up from her spot on the velvet sofa and stretched her arms. George got up too, sad that the small moment they were sharing had passed. “I’ll go up too. Fred is probably upset I’m not helping him work on the latest product prototype.”

She smiled up at him. “Causing trouble?”

“Always!” He grinned mischievously down at her, enjoying the way that her smile hit her eyes and made them dance with life.

When they were standing right outside of Ginny and Hermione’s room, George’s head hit something dangling from the ceiling. “What the bloody hell?” George asked as he stepped backwards examining the low hanging object.

“Oh my god. This has to be the doing of Ginny or Fred.”

George took a closer look at the evergreen plant that was hanging in the hallway. Mistletoe. “Oh—we don’t have to…”

Hermione rolled her eyes. “George Weasley, are you too scared of a little kiss?”

“Weasley’s aren’t afraid of anything.” He promised as he stepped towards her, so they were standing inches away from each other.

George leaned down and closed his eyes. Their lips connected and he could swear that the world was clicking together in his head. As the electricity was going through his body from their lips connecting, he inhaled taking in her scent from the closeness. He smelled old books, sleekeazy potions, and an intense mint.

He froze as she backed away but only inches away from his face. She laughed quietly. “See, George. Nothing to be afraid of.” Hermione winked and turned a violent shade of red before ducking into the girl’s bedroom.

George felt like his feet were planted frozen in the hardwood floor. He knew that he was having a hard time placing the smell of mint from the love potion that him and Fred were working on for the joke shop. It was so strange and a strong-smelling mint that he couldn’t place it until the curly-haired Gryffindor laughed when he they were leaning in close together. The smell of spearmint from the muggle tube that Hermione always rubbed on her teeth filled his senses. It came washing over him and made him lost in thought.

He managed to move his feet after a while and forced them to walk up the stairs to the twin’s room. When he swung the door open, he looked at Fred and whispered, “Mint, Freddie. It’s mint.”

“What? Did you hit your head, mate?” His twin looked concerned as George sank onto his bed.

“The love potion… I smelled mint. Do you remember? But I couldn’t place it. It’s muggle spearmint.” George sighed and laid-back staring at the ceiling and picturing the laughing, curly-haired, Gryffindor girl who he had just kissed in the hallway. “It’s Hermione.”


	11. Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ginny and Fred followed after them as the twin animatedly explained to his younger sister how to work the prank gift that the twins had gotten her for Christmas. Hermione went to leave after them, but George grabbed her hand. “I got you something.” He smiled.
> 
> “Oh, George! You shouldn’t have.” Hermione felt the smile grow onto her face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone who is reading this! Thank you so much for all of the support on this story. It really is a little overwhelming since I'm just writing this for fun... I hope you all enjoy this chapter of Always and Forever and as always, I don't own any of the characters or anything. :)

Chapter Eleven

Hermione POV

Hermione woke up to a fluffy pillow being thrown at her head. “It’s Christmas morning!” Ginny cried out with excitement. The red-headed girl had already put on her annual Weasley jumper on over her hand me down pajamas and was tearing through her other brightly wrapped presents at the foot of her bed.

The Gryffindor girl smiled at her own pile of presents and began to open them. She got rather emotional when she opened up one present labeled from The Weasley’s and saw it was a matching jumper that the rest of the lot got every year. Ginny noticed Hermione getting chocked up and giggled. “Looks like you’re officially a Weasley! Well, not really official. All you have is the jumper, you got to work on the last name part. Hermione Weasley has a good ring to it—” Hermione shut her friend up by returning the thrown pillow and smacking her in the face with a giggle.

After the girls tore through their presents, they went to go see if Ron and Harry were up already. When they walked through the doors, they saw the boys had already opened up their pile of presents as well. Ron looked at Hermione and frowned. “Why would you make me think of homework on Christmas?” He held up the homework planner that she thought would be rather useful for him with a frustrated look on his face.

“Merry Christmas to you too, Ron.” She huffed crossing her arms over her new Weasley jumper.

A loud crack filled the room and Fred and George apparated at the foot of Harry’s bed. “Merry Christmas.” George said with a smile but an absent look in his eyes. “No one go downstairs for a bit…”

“Why not?” Ron asked.

“Mum’s crying again.” Fred said with a heavy voice. “Percy sent back his Christmas jumper.”

“The git didn’t even add a note or anything to ask how dad is or anything.” George shook his head thinking of his brother. “We tried comforting her, but it didn’t work so Lupin took over. We figured we would come up here to warn everyone not to bother her about the git today.”

After everyone thanked each other for the presents, Ron and Harry decided it was time to go downstairs. “I’m too hungry to wait any longer.” Ron complained as he left the room.

Ginny and Fred followed after them as the twin animatedly explained to his younger sister how to work the prank gift that the twins had gotten her for Christmas. Hermione went to leave after them, but George grabbed her hand. “I got you something.” He smiled.

“Oh, George! You shouldn’t have.” Hermione felt the smile grow onto her face. “I hope you didn’t think the gift I got for you and Fred was too boring…” She was hoping that the gift on how to open a business would be of use. It was a muggle book but still the information was rather important if they wanted to open up a shop of their own someday.

George shook his head. “Not boring at all and very Hermione-like.” He reached deep into his pockets and pulled out a small, maroon colored box. “Merry Christmas!”

She let him drop the small box into her hands. When she opened it up, she let out a small gasp. It was a beautiful bracelet with a small golden lion on the dainty chain. “It reminds me so much of Gryffindor! It’s beautiful.”

“Would you like some help getting it on?” He suggested and before she could answer he helped her clasp the small chain around her wrist. “It made me think of you. You’re one of the bravest people I know.”

“Oh, shove off. You have to be joking.” The curly-haired girl rolled her eyes thinking he was just messing around with her until her eyes met his. They were very serious and showing disbelief.

“Honestly, Hermione. It’s like you can’t see yourself. You really are tremendously brave. The sorting hat knew what it was doing when it placed you into Gryffindor.” The boy winked before putting out his elbow, now in his normal joking manner. “Shall we head downstairs to join the others, Miss. Prefect?”

She giggled and tucked her hand into the crook of his elbow. “When will you stop calling me that, George? It’s getting a little old don’t you think?”

The teenager tilted his head to the side as if debating it as they walked down the stairs to join the group. “I’ll stop calling you that when I can begin calling you Miss. Head Girl because I’m sure that’s the route you are heading on.”

Hermione blushed deeply. “You really think that Dumbledore would make me Head Girl?”

“He would be stupid not to! Honestly, you’re top of your class and you are doing a great job enforcing rules at Hogwarts, which of course is driving Fred and I mad.” The boy laughed.

They dropped their arms before entering the kitchen and stared at each other. Hermione was wondering if he would mention the mistletoe kiss or act like it didn’t happen. George was staring at her as if expecting her to say something, too. She opened her mouth to ask what he thought of it when Sirius was behind them. “Come on, you two! Everyone else is already eating. We have to get a good start on the day so you all can go see Arthur.”

During breakfast, there were plans being discussed on how to escort the group safely to St. Mungo’s. Harry, Ron, and Ginny were going to be escorted by Mad-Eye and Tonks. The twins and Hermione were going to be escorted by Molly and Lupin. Bill would meet them there with Fleur, this news mad Molly look down at her food in disgust. It had become quite obvious to Hermione that she did not like the newcomer to the group. Hermione made a mental note to talk to Fleur and help her feel welcome because she knew what it was like to feel that type of dislike from Mrs. Weasley.

After they all ate, it was time to change into muggle clothing so they would blend in during the journey. Hermione wore a plain pair of light blue jeans and her new maroon jumper that Mrs. Weasley made her. She was busy admiring the jumper in the mirror when the twins apparated next to her in the mirror with a loud crack. “We’re identical!” The two boys said in unison as they stared at the group in the old mirror.

Hermione rolled her eyes and noted that the three of them were in fact all wearing the same outfit. The only difference was that on Fred and George’s jumpers they had a large F and G on the front. The girl narrowed her eyes inside the reflection and turned around swiftly. She looked at Fred and then George and then back at the other twin. “Why are you wearing the other person’s jumper?”

Fred’s eyes got really big and he looked at George with excitement. “Wow! She can tell us apart!”

George smiled at Hermione proudly and chuckled. “Well don’t spoil the prank to the others, we want to try and lighten up the mood on the journey back from St. Mungo’s.”

The girl laughed. “Whatever you say, ‘Fred’.” She said with a wink and turned to the boy in the jumper with a large G on the front and added. “You too, ‘George’.” Hermione used air quotation marks around their names as if to show that she wouldn’t tell on them or spoil the prank.

The twins laughed before getting a devilish look on their face. “We are running late, Hermione. Too much talking. We better save some time and—”

Before she could protest, the twins had grabbed either of her elbow and had the three of them apparated to the front door. When they let go of her, she had that same nauseous feeling as the first time they forced her to apparate but it was more mellow this time. Perhaps it wasn’t a bad idea to get used to the sensation. The first group had already gone, and it was time now for these three to get escorted. Lupin and Mrs. Weasley were sitting in the front seat of the Weasley’s old Ford Anglia. “Get in, we don’t have all day.” Mrs. Weasley said through sniffles that were still coming from this morning’s cry about Percy.

George POV

In the car, he wished that there hadn’t been an enlarging spell put on the interior. If the car was proportioned normally, Hermione would’ve been able to sit closer to him. She seemed lost in thought as the group traveled to the hospital. Occasionally, she would play absentmindedly with the new bracelet that George had gotten her. He had spent his entire portion of the earnings off of their joke products for the month of December on that bracelet and he was glad that she liked it. Fred noticed the bracelet and looked over the girl’s head to smirk at his twin and raise his eyebrows. George rolled his eyes and looked out the window in response.

He hadn’t told Fred he was going to buy Hermione a Christmas present because he hadn’t wanted to make a big deal out of it. He didn’t know how she felt about him and didn’t want to push anything onto the girl who already had too much on her plate.

The journey was quick, and they were at St. Mungo’s before George could get too lost in his own thoughts. When they got inside, the rest of the group was waiting for them in the reception area. Crystal orbs that turned from red to gold were hung up on the ceilings and floated around them and icicles glittered in each corner. The receptionist seemed to recognize the large group of mainly red hair and motioned for them to go the Spell Damage floor.

When they walked into the room, they found that Mr. Weasley was propped up in his beds with the Daily Prophet opened up in front of him. “Everything all right, Arthur?” Their mother asked after everyone greeted each other and thanked each other for the presents.

“Fine… fine… You haven’t seen Healer Smethwyck, have you?”

“No. Why?” His mother asked suspiciously and crossed her arms over her chest, giving Mr. Weasley that look of _what have you been up to_ that Fred and George knew all too well.

“Oh, it’s nothing. It’s just—well—don’t get upset but one of the younger Healer’s is a muggle-born and he had an idea about mixing the muggle medicine practice with the wizarding one and I got a few stitches but they dissolved and the cuts opened back up pushing the recovery time back and—” His father’s face was going redder and redder as their mom was getting more angry.

Bill looked at them and muttered, “Tea, anybody?”

The twins agreed quickly and popped up from their hospital chairs. George tapped Hermione on the shoulder and raised his eyebrows while motioning with his head towards the door as if to silently ask if she wanted to go with. He felt his heart stop beating for a moment as the girl looked at her friends to the right of her and then back to George. She muttered something to Harry and Ron before getting up and following George out of the room. He smiled widely and held the door open up for her.

“What exactly are stitches?” George asked her as they caught up to Bill and Fred.

“Well they are these threads, kind of like when you tear your clothing and your mother fixes the rips, but it goes into your skin. It does work fairly well on non-magical wounds. My father has had to get stiches before, and it worked. I suppose something in the snake’s venom dissolves them or something…” She seemed lost in thought as if debating in her head how the magic behind that would work.

“So… dad got sewed up like the pair of pants I ripped playing Quidditch? Nice.” Fred shook his head in disbelief on why his father would chose to do something like that voluntarily.

“It sounds painful.” Bill noted as the four of them walked into the tearoom in the hospital. “Hello, Fleur.” He smiled and gave the beautiful witch a kiss on the top of her head.

“Hello!” She responded in a cheerful but still quite thick accent. “How is your father? I didn’t want to go in there when your mother was in. I don’t think she likes me very much.”

Bill looked disappointed at the reason why she hadn’t gone into their father’s room. “He’s alright. He’s going to get an ear full soon from my mom. Probably not the worst idea to hide out here for a while. At least then, we can avoid the second-hand lecture.”

An employee brought over 5 teacups and smiled before leaving the table they were sitting at. Hermione cleared her throat nervously before saying, “It’s okay, Fleur. She will get over whatever she is upset about. Mrs. Weasley sometimes just needs a little bit of time.”

Fleur looked defeated and slumped her slender shoulders. “How would you know? You’re obviously accepted by her. Look you even have a matching jumper.”

“Well actually—” Hermione bit her lip before continuing, “Do you remember last year when I went to the Yule Ball with Viktor Krum?”

Fleur nodded. “Yes, yes. I remember that. He seemed rather happy that you said yes.”

George felt his cheeks get hot as he pictured Krum dancing with Hermione. _Woah. Calm down, George. Why are you getting upset over the past right now?_ The curly-haired girl nodded before going on, not noticing the strange reaction George just had as she recounted her experience. “Yes. Well Rita Skeeta had said some awful things about me in the Prophet last year and Mrs. Weasley treated me how she’s treating you now. Clearly,” she motioned to the jumper she was wearing. “She was able to get over the disliking of me and treat me like family. I’m sure the same will happen for you.”

Fleur beamed at Hermione like she was a beacon of hope. “I really hope so, Hermione. I really do.” The ex-Beuxbaton champion placed a hand on top of the Gryffindor girl’s hand and smiled brightly at her. “Thank you.”

“I didn’t do anything special-” Hermione began before Fleur cut her off.

“You gave me hope.” The other girl smiled before dropped her hand and returning to drinking her tea. “Sometimes hope is the best thing you can hold onto.”

George smiled at Hermione who was drinking her tea and trying to hide a blush that was creeping up on her face. He looked up at his older brother who was also smiling, but this time at Fleur. The twin must’ve forgotten how his mother had treated Hermione, or maybe he was too busy last year to notice with all the betting on the events, but he felt sad for the girl to go through that. Surely, Ron didn’t notice since he didn’t notice anything. He silently hoped that Ginny had noticed or Harry and comforted her throughout the whole ordeal.

He made a mental note that he wouldn’t let anyone treat the brave and beautiful girl any less than she deserved. She was too kind-hearted and special to be treated like anything less than what she was.


	12. Essence of Murtlap

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “No. I don’t care about that.” She plopped down next to him. “I care—”
> 
> George turned, waiting for her to finish her sentence. The girl was biting her lip and staring into the flames with a distant look on her eyes. “You care about what. House points?”
> 
> “God, you Weasley’s are so thick.”
> 
> “Hey, now. Ginny is pretty bright.” He joked.
> 
> Hermione turned away from the fire and looked George in his eyes. She had a nervous and serious look on her face. “George.”
> 
> “Hermione.” He repeated staring down at her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gosh they are so cute, I just can't handle it! I hope you all are enjoying this! As always, I don't own the characters and I'm writing this just for fun. Enjoy!

Chapter Twelve

Hermione POV

Dread filled her chest in the Great Hall during breakfast. Her copy of the Daily Prophet had just been delivered by the morning owl post and on the front page was the moving images of nine dark wizards’ faces and one witch face sneering at the photographer. They were all wearing Azkaban prisoner uniforms and holding up their prisoner information for the photo. The headline read, “ **MASS BREAKOUT FROM AKZABAN MINISTRY FEARS BLACK IS “RALLYING POINT” FOR OLD DEATH EATERS** ”. The Gryffindor girl shook her head as she tried to force herself to nibble on a slice of buttered toast, she lost her appetite from the news.

Harry and Ron sat down across from her at the table and she simply tossed the paper over to her messy haired friend who looked at her with confused, green eyes. “Read the headline, Harry.”

“Black?” said Harry loudly after he read the paper. “What would he have to do with this?”

“Shh!” The girl urged her friend as she turned around to see if anyone had noticed his outrage. “Not so loud, just read it.”

Harry shook his head angrily after he finished reading the article. “I can’t believe that Fudge is trying to blame Sirius for breaking out all of these death eaters. He would never do that. He’s being framed.”

“What other option does Fudge have? He can hardly say, ‘Sorry everyone, Dumbledore warned me this might happen, the Azkaban guards have joined Lord Voldemort and now the worst supporters have broken out.’ I mean, he’s spent a good six months telling everyone you and Dumbledore are crazy liars, hasn’t he?” The girl shook her head as she took her newspaper back and ignored her friends glare.

She went through the rest of the day just going through the motions. None of the trio felt like talking about the Azkaban break out and talking about anything else seemed wrong. The next day, there was a new Educational Decree posted on the wall outside of the Great Hall. This one read; ‘ **Teachers are hearby banned from giving students any information that is not strictly related to the subjects they are paid to teach’**.

Hermione shook her head in disbelief. Now, Umbridge was preventing the spread of news and help to the students. She thought back to her second year and remembered that McGonagall was the reason they knew about the Chamber of Secrets. She shuddered to think what would have happened to young Ginny if her Transfiguration teacher had not been able to talk to the students and unknowingly give clues to Hermione on how to solve the issue.

George laughed at the Decree in the Great Hall as Umbridge walked by the Gryffindor table. “Professor!” He called to her, stopping her in her tracks. “With this new Decree, you can’t tell Fred and I off for playing Exploding Snap in the back of your class because that has nothing to do with Defense Against the Dark Arts, can you?” He smirked at the short professor and Hermione wanted to hit him from across the table.

“Well, Mr. Weasley. For that attitude of yours, how about I see you after school today at 6 pm in my office for detention. You can rethink talking like that to your Professors.” She sniffed before continuing her walk up to the staff table.

“Why would you provoke her like that?” Hermione asked once the Defense Agaisnt the Dark Arts professor was out of ear shot. “You had to have known she would give you detention.”

“I’m not afraid of her.” George shrugged. “Besides, it’s just detention.”

“You’re going to get hurt. You know what detention means with Umbridge.” Hermione gestured to his scar on the back of his hand.

The teenager covered it up and smiled at her. “Don’t know what you’re talking about, Miss. Prefect Granger. I better be off to sell a few Ton-Tongue Toffees before class. Fred, you coming?” The two got up from the table and strode out of the Great Hall without a care in the world it appeared.

Hermione made a mental note to get some essence of murtlap for George to have when he got back to the common room for the bleeding. Harry looked at his friend and whispered. “We have to pick up D.A. meetings again.”

She nodded in agreement. “It seems to be the only way we can get back at her. Let’s go, we can talk on the way to Care for Magical Creatures. I don’t want anyone overhearing us.” Hermione looked around at the other tables. It was loud in the Great Hall but you could never know and could never be too safe.

The three Gryffindor’s got up and began the walk to class. They were frustrated when they saw Umbridge with her clipboard sitting on a small stool with a magical quill that was furiously taking notes throughout the lesson. Harry looked at Hermione. “Do you think she will be here for every lesson?”

The Gryffindor girl nodded once with her lips firmly together thinking of how foul the woman on the stool was for trying to keep other Professors on probation and prove they were unfit to teach by observing their lessons. “I think that’s exactly what she will do. I imagine we will see her in Divination as well.”

George POV

Umbridge was too excited when his hand was dripping blood from his punishment since he was too proud to admit that he was in pain about an hour ago. “I think that will do for tonight, Mr. Weasley. May this be a lesson for you to watch your tone and keep order while you’re at school. Now, go run along back to the Gryffindor common room.”

He pushed the chair out from behind him and walked out of the room without turning to look back at her. George muttered the password to the Fat Lady and walked through the portrait opening into the common room. He walked in and tried to hold his hand so that it wouldn’t bleed all over the woven rugs that were in the room. Most of everyone had already gone to bed it seemed because the Gryffindor common room was mainly empty.

“George!”

He turned his head to see Hermione jump up from her spot next to the fire. George smiled at her and walked over to her. “How’s it going, Hermione?”

“Let me see your hand.” She said in a very serious tone that George knew not to joke around. “This is murtlap essence. It’s a solution of strained and pickled tentacles of Murtlaps. It helps sooth the cuts and helps them heal. You should use this every time that Umbridge makes you use that disgusting, black quill.”

He tilted his head to the side. “Thanks, Hermione. I’m sure you don’t like hearing this, but this gives me an idea for a Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes product.”

“Oh, no.” She closed her eyes and shook her head. “Can you just try and stay out of the trouble for two seconds, Weasley?”

“Sorry, am I making your job too hard, Miss. Prefect.” He laughed before sinking onto the sofa in front of the roaring flame.

“No. I don’t care about that.” She plopped down next to him. “I care—”

George turned, waiting for her to finish her sentence. The girl was biting her lip and staring into the flames with a distant look on her eyes. “You care about what. House points?”

“God, you Weasley’s are so thick.”

“Hey, now. Ginny is pretty bright.” He joked.

Hermione turned away from the fire and looked George in his eyes. She had a nervous and serious look on her face. “George.”

“Hermione.” He repeated staring down at her.

“Can’t you see that I worry about you? That’s why I got so upset that you provoked Umbridge? I hate seeing you in pain.” She held up his hand. “This, doesn’t do anything besides hurt you and in turn hurt me because I can’t stop worrying about you.”

The teenage boy opened his mouth in shock. What had Hermione just said to him? _She can’t possibly be that worried about you, George. Don’t get ahead of yourself._

“I’m sure you worry about all of your friends, I’m sorry. I won’t do it again.” He blushed slightly. He was truly sorry that he had worried Hermione. She didn’t need to worry about anything else other than what was already on her plate.

“Well… I… nevermind.” She sighed and slumped her head on the back of the sofa dramatically.

George mimicked her action so that they were both learning their heads against the squishy, golden sofa. “You know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen the great, Hermione Granger, so speechless before. It’s confusing.”

“Weasley’s are confusing.” She corrected him with a short laugh of frustration.

“What are you going on about?” George asked and turned his head so he could look at her while they still had their heads leaned back.

Hermione still looked at the ceiling and bit her bottom lip. “I just don’t know what’s going through your mind half the time and it drives me mad, George Weasley.”

“I can try and help clear things up if I only knew what you were talking about?” He raised his eyebrows at her.

She turned her head now so that they were looking at each other. Their faces were inches away from the other. They stayed like this for quite a few moments before she opened her mouth and asked, “What did Christmas Eve mean?”

“Oh, that.”

“Yea, that. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it and it’s driving me insane.”

“I drive you insane?” He wiggled his eyebrows in a joking manner.

“See, there you go again. You never give me a straight answer, George.” She shook her head and looked back up at the ceiling.

“Hey…” he gently grabbed her chin and turned her head so that she was looking at him again. “I didn’t know the mistletoe would be there if that’s what you’re asking. If you’re asking if I liked it… yes. I liked it quite a lot actually. I also find you to be very confusing, Granger. Didn’t you think that I was wondering what you thought about that night just as much as you were thinking about it?”

Hermione chuckled. “I highly doubt you were trying to analyze every single detail to as much scrutiny as I was, but I think I know what you mean.” She sucked in a long breath before letting it out and continuing. “I liked it too. I have been meaning to bring it up sooner but between SPEW, OWL studies, DA meetings, and Umbridge there just—”

“Hasn’t been time. I understand, Hermione. That’s why I worry about you so much. I think you’re spreading yourself too thin. You need some time for yourself.” He realized his hand was still on her chin and he shifted it to the side of her face so that he could caress her cheek in a comforting manner. “How about this. We figure out, what this is.” He motioned with his other hand between the two of them before continuing. “At the next Hogsmeade trip. I’ll tell Fred and Lee that I can’t go product shopping and we can just hangout.”

“Hangout. The two of us.” She repeated and stared at him before nodding. “Okay, George. Deal.”

He smiled and felt the butterflies in his stomach threaten to fly out. “Perfect. It’s a date.”

“A date… yea… a date…” She seemed like she was going to hyperventilate.

George chuckled. “Don’t worry about it, Hermione. It’ll be like this now, just at Hogsmeade. No pressure.”

Hermione smiled at him and looked down at his lips before looking back up to his eyes. “Okay. Sounds good, George. Goodnight.” She hesitated before leaning in and closing the distance between the two of him.

When their lips connected, the same feeling of electricity going through his body, starting at where their lips met filled his being. She smelled exactly how he remembered, the florally Sleakeazy potion and mint. He sighed at the comforting feeling like returning home from a long day she gave him. George wrapped his arms around her and pulled her body close to his. She returned the gesture and they stayed like that until they had to break apart for air.

Hermione giggled and George gave her a big, goofy smile. “Goodnight, Granger.”

“’Night, Weasley. See you later.” She got up from the couch and was off to the girls’ dormitory leaving George to sit and think about spearmint toothpaste and curly hair. “Hogsmeade Trip, please hurry up.” He silently wished as he daydreamed about holding Hermione’s hand as they walked through the snowy path to the shops.


	13. Worth It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He tucked a curly strand of hair behind her ear and whispered. “I like bold Hermione.”
> 
> The girl froze at the closeness of his voice and turned to meet his eyes. She bit her lip and looked at his lips. That was all George needed before he leaned in and wrapped the girl into his arms, letting their lips meet in the middle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I just love George and Hermione. I hope you all enjoy reading this chapter! As always, I don't own any of the characters and any of that sterotypical stuff that's always at the beginning of any fan fic.

Chapter Thirteen

Hermione POV

With everything going on at school, the Hogsmeade trip approached faster than she realized was possible. She was working so hard between studying for her OWL exams, supporting SPEW, setting up DA meetings and trying to keep Ron and Harry out of trouble that it was all of a sudden, the Hogsmeade trip. Hermione hadn’t even realized it was Valentine’s Day until Harry was complaining about it at breakfast. “What am I supposed to with Cho for an entire day?”

“I wouldn’t worry about it, Harry. You will work something out.” Hermione comforted her friend.

Ron asked between bites of sausage. “What do you want to do today, Hermione?”

“Oh… I actually… have plans today.” She blushed a bright shade of red.

Had she really been so busy with everything going on that she didn’t tell anyone about her and George’s date? “Plans? What plans? You never have plans.” Ron’s eyebrow creased in the middle.

“I sort of… have a date today.” Hermione blushed and ducked her head down into her cup of pumpkin juice.

“Date?” Harry asked with a smile on his face. “Congratulations, Hermione.”

“Date? With who?” Ron asked with his mouth open.

Just then, the twins sat down next to the two boys. “Ready for today, Hermione?” Fred asked her with a devilish smile on his face. “You guys are going to meet up with Angelina and I later in the day. I just had to crash and make sure you weren’t breaking my brother’s heart, of course.” The boy winked at the blushing Gryffindor girl.

“Brother?” Ron asked with an incredulous look on his face. “Which one?”

George rolled his eyes. “Well Ron, It would be a bit weird if Charlie was coming to pay a visit from Romania to take your friend on a date, wouldn’t it.” The twin grabbed for a piece of toast and winked at Hermione.

Ron’s mouth dropped. “You?”

“Well, I don’t know how many other brothers you have at Hogwarts right now. Seeing as it’s not you and Fred is dating Angelina…” George trailed off as he chewed on the toast.

Ginny smiled at grabbed onto Hermione’s elbow. “You better tell me _everything_ when you return. I mean it. _Everything_.”

As Ron continued to stare with his mouth wide open, Neville turned to him. “You can come to Hogsmeade with Luna and I. We are going to Honeydukes first.”

The Gryffindor boy looked like that was the last thing he wanted to do but seeing as he didn’t have any other options, he got up and left with the other Gryffindor and Ravenclaw girl. Fred wished George good luck as he left after them while he held Angelina’s hand. “Ready to go?” George asked.

“Don’t hurt her, George Weasley or I’ll hex you into next week. I’m not afraid. And you! Everything, Hermione Granger. I mean, everything!” Ginny shook her head in disbelief with a huge smile on her face as Hermione walked out of the Great Hall with her older brother.

“Don’t you think Ginny should’ve warned me not to hurt you? Not the other way around?” Hermione giggled as George shook his head.

“She’s very protective over you. There aren’t many girls in her life. Let alone, girls she can stand. You’re one of her good friends. I’m just a brother and she certainly has got plenty of those.” He chuckled as they walked outside into the cold, Winter air.

Hermione shivered and George wrapped an arm around her. He was very warm and smelled of vanilla and firework smoke. She inhaled deeply, letting the smell envelop her senses as they made their way to Hogsemade. “Where to first?” He asked, pulling her out of her thoughts.

“I could go for some candy.” She smiled as they walked to Honeydukes.

When they walked in, they were comforted by the shelves of amazing sweets imaginable. The girl walked around as George followed her. He was eyeing a honey-colored toffee but didn’t want to buy it, saying he wanted to save his money for later. Hermione waited until he was looking at the shelves of Fizzing Whizzbees, when she grabbed the toffee and picked up Toothflossing Stringmints and a shimmering pink square of coconut ice. She promptly walked up to the counter and paid for the candy. “Don’t say I never got you anything, Weasley.” Hermione smiled as she handed him the honey-colored toffee.

“Hermione… you really shouldn’t have.” He blushed slightly and looked at the toffee with a guilty expression. “I could’ve gotten it.”

She titled her head. “How about you think of it as sharing?” Hermione nibbled the tiny corner piece of before handing it to George. “Wow, I’m stuffed. I can’t possibly finish this. Will you eat the rest, George?” She smirked and raised an eyebrow in a _I win_ sort of look as he defeatedly took the toffee.

They found a bench that was under a warming charm while they ate their treats. “Who on earth gets a slice of coconut ice when it’s freezing outside?” He jokingly said to her as her nose grew redder with the cold despite the warming charm on the black bench.

She shrugged and tightened her Gryffindor scarf that was threatening to fall off. “I don’t know. It’s my favorite type of candy in there. Besides the Toothflossing Stringmints those remind me of home.”

“You smell like mint; did you know that? It would make sense that the Toothflossing Stringmints are one of your favorites.” George said abruptly and excitedly. “It’s a good smell but I couldn’t place the smell for the longest of time because it’s that muggle stuff you put on your teeth. Harry told me it was called toothpaste.”

“Wow. Most girls smell like flowers, and I smell like toothpaste.” She shook her head in embarrassment. “How weird.”

“I don’t think it’s weird at all. I like it. Also, since you worried about it, you do smell florally too.” George blushed and looked at his gloved hands. “It’s the sleakeazy potion scent you put in your hair every day. You smell that before you smell the toothpaste. I don’t think many people get to smell the spearmint unless they’re really close to you.”

She opened her mouth in shock that someone would care to analyze and figure so much about her. “Wow, George. I can’t believe I called you thick and unobservant.”

“You never called me unobservant.” He pointed out and finished his toffee.

“Must have thought it. Sorry.” She giggled and finished her coconut ice. “You might be as interested in analyzing me as I’m into analyzing you.”

“Oh, yea. What have you found out about me, Granger?” George stood up and grabbed her hand as they began to walk aimlessly down the paths of Hogsmeade.

“Well… for starters, you smell like vanilla and firework smoke. You might get me to actually like fireworks with how good it smells on you.” She blushed and the girl realized what she had just said. “Anyways, I also noticed that you lean your weight more to the left than Fred does. You also have a crinkle in your left eye when you smile that he doesn’t. Your voice is also slightly lower than his. These are just a few ways I can tell you two apart. It’s how I knew you switched jumpers.”

He froze in place in awe at the brilliant girl next to him. “Do you know that not even our mother can tell us apart?” George asked in a small voice. “I think you might be the only person who has tried really hard to notice the differences.”

Hermione smiled up at him. “I think you’re kinder than Fred also. You tend to be the one to smooth things over with others when you guys go too far with one of your jokes. You also tend to be more sympathetic. You try to cheer others up when you know the joke hurt someone’s feelings.”

The boy looked so happy at her report on the twins as they walked into the Three Broomsticks. “George! Hermione! Over here!” Fred called over to them from a hidden, corner booth. He was standing up and waving. Angelina pulled him back down by his shoulder as she rolled her eyes.

George POV

The two Gryffindors joined the others in the corner booth and George ordered them each a Butterbeer, which he insisted on paying. “These is what I was saving for.” He smiled as he handed Hermione her own tin mug of foaming Butterbeer.

She thanked him and looked down at it with a smile on her face. He liked making her smile. George promised to himself that he would make her smile every day that he saw her. Angelina smiled at Hermione. “How are you doing, Hermione?”

The younger girl shrugged. “Busy. You know with OWLs and everything. The 5th year really is awful.”

The Gryffindor Quidditch captain nodded in understanding. “It’s awful when you actually study. These two probably didn’t think it was anything different from any other year.”

Fred pretended to look shocked. “Excuse me… I’ll let you know I got an OWL in Care for Magical Creatures.”

“I got an OWL in Charms and in Defense Against the Dark Arts, also.” George added.

“But… did you study?” Angelina pressed, it seemed she already knew the answer.

The twins laughed and Fred answered. “You got us there, Angelina. God you’re so smart. This is why I keep you around.” He planted a kiss on her cheek and ruffled her dark hair. He turned his attention over to Hermione. “You aren’t breaking my brother’s heart yet, are you?”

George blushed and rolled his eyes. “God don’t scare her off, Fred. We’ve had a normal day at Hogsmeade.” He didn’t want to talk about how she could tell the differences between the two of them. He wanted to keep that information to himself and also didn’t want to make Angelina feel bad if she couldn’t tell the differences between them.

“Well, all I know is that I care a lot about my other half, and if anything happens to him… I’m coming for you Granger.” He pretended to act menacingly but it was destroyed by the smile that played on his lips as well as the foam that gave him a Butterbeer mustache on his face.

The other three Gryffindors broke out into roars of laughter. “You got something on your face, Freddie.” Angelina said in between belly laughs.

“Where?” Fred asked pretending to be shocked.

“Here let me show you.” George said before taking a long drag from his own mug, giving himself a matching foamy mustache. “You look like this!”

Hermione and Angelina were laughing so hard now that they had tears streaming down their face. “You boys are ridiculous!” The younger girl said in between laughs.

“You knew we were ridiculous before you agreed to this. I think that says more about you ladies, than us.” George laughed and wiped away the tears off of her face with soft touches with his fingertips.

The door opened up of the Three Broomsticks and Lee Jordan walked in with Katie Bell and Alicia Spinnet. “Let’s go say hi!” Angelina said excitedly to Fred before turning to Hermione and George. “We will be right back, promise.”

George didn’t mind when they left, it gave them some alone time. The bright girl was still giggling, and it filled George’s heart with happiness. “I like making you laugh, Miss. Prefect. You’re much too serious all the time.”

“Well good thing I have you to balance it out, huh?” She said before taking a sip of her Butterbeer and blushing. “Sorry, I don’t know where that came from. I think you make me get so bold and I don’t know what’s coming out of my mouth half the time.”

He tucked a curly strand of hair behind her ear and whispered. “I like bold Hermione.”

The girl froze at the closeness of his voice and turned to meet his eyes. She bit her lip and looked at his lips. That was all George needed before he leaned in and wrapped the girl into his arms, letting their lips meet in the middle.

Unlike the kiss at No. 12 Grimmauld Place and the Gryffindor common room, this one was more intense. They were in a goofing manner and let any inhibitions go that they had before about each other. Hermione let out a small moan and George took that as a sign to keep going.

He slipped his tongue into her mouth and put a hand through her curly hair as he pulled her as close to his body as possible in the corner booth. She felt so warm next to him, it warmed up every inch of his body.

Hermione surprised him and nibbled on the bottom of his lip which made him moan in return. “Bloody hell, do you have to do that in public?”

The two Gryffindors broke apart and looked at the person who was in front of the table with a look of disgust on their face. “Ron. What are you doing here?” Hermione asked as she pushed her hair back in face and wiped her lips off with the back of her jumper.

“Why is everyone snogging.” Ron grumbled. “Everyone. Harry and Cho. Neville and Luna Lovegood of all people. I went to find you lot to sit with you but clearly, you all are a bit busy, aren’t you.”

George stared at his brother and was shocked at the venom that was laced into the words. “Didn’t realize it was a Hogwarts rule that you can’t snog at Hogsmeade, Ron. I figured; Hermione would know if we were in violation of any rules. Seeing as she didn’t say anything—”

“I don’t think she could say anything if she wanted to with you practically sucking her face off.” Ron looked green. “I’m going back to the castle.” He turned around and stormed out of the pub.

George turned around to see Hermione staring after him with sad eyes. She bit her lip and sighed. “I feel like a git.”

“Why on earth do you feel like a git, Hermione?”

“I hurt my friend.” She sighed and took another sip of Butterbeer. “It’s like I can’t do something for myself without hurting someone else.” 

George wrapped an arm around her shoulder and kissed the top of her head. “Don’t worry about it, Ron will come around. Besides, maybe he’ll tell Ginny what he saw, and you won’t have to.”

She laughed and rolled her eyes. “I think you know just as well as I that I won’t be getting off that easy. She’s going to make it so awkward.” Hermione took another swig of butterbeer and looked mischievously at George. “Are you sure you don’t want to talk to her instead?”

“Oh, certainly not!” He shook his head with wide eyes. “That’s all you, Hermione. Goodluck with that.”

“Lovebirds…” Fred sang as he sat back down with the other Gryffindor’s. “Is it safe to come over here? Or are we still in snogging territory?”

George chucked a balled-up flyer for whatever drinks were on special at his twin’s head. This caused chaos at the table as all the boys were throwing papers at each other and the girls were trying to keep the papers out of their mugs. “Oh, Hermione. I wish I could warn you what you’re getting yourself into, but I think it’s clear.” Angelina smiled with a light in her eye. She caught the younger girl’s wrist and said quietly. “It’s worth it.”


	14. Fireworks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "If I tell you something, do you promise not to get mad?" George waited for Hermione to nod her head before saying, "Fred and I are leaving."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For this chapter, I mixed some information from the books and some from the movies because I personally feel like the fireworks were much more exciting than the Portable Swamp in the books. I hope you all enjoy!

Chapter Fourteen

George POV

After what seemed like the millionth detention, George put some of the Essene of Mugwort onto the back of his hand. This detention was brutal because there was a first-year boy named Michael who had been forced to write, I will not speak out of term for an hour while he was crying in front of George.

When George was allowed to leave after him, he found Fred, waiting for him outside of the classroom. As they were on their way to return to the Gryffindor common room, they found that same first-year who was in detention crying two corridors down. He looked up at the older boys. “It won’t stop bleeding.”

George sank down onto the stone bench that the eleven-year-old was sitting on and spread some Essence of Mugwort onto his hand. He was so thankful for Hermione in that moment so he could give some comfort to this little boy who was crying.

“What’s your name?” Fred asked with a kind and soft voice.

“Michael.” The boy said in between some sniffles.

“It’s going to be fine, Michael.” George smiled.

“Yea, it’s not as bad as it seems.” Fred promised.

George added. “It’ll fade before you even know it. You can hardly see Fred’s and he hasn’t had detention in a couple weeks, which is good.”

Fred nodded and nudged the little boy gently. “Besides, the pain stops after a while. That potion will help loads.”

They were interrupted by a hem-hem from down the hall. George felt ice shoot through his veins. He looked up at the foul lady who caused this child harm. The twins stood up and stepped in front of Michael, as if to shield him from the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. “As I’ve told you before, naughty children deserve to be punished.” She smiled wickedly before stalking off.

Fred shook his head with fury. “You know what George… I’ve always felt our futures lay outside the world of academic achievement.”

He smiled at his twin. “Fred, I’ve been thinking exactly the same thing.”

They helped the small boy get to his Common room before returning to the Gryffindor room. Hermione was asleep on top of a pile of books and parchment. Fred nudged his twin. “She tried staying up for you studying. We need to figure out a plan so we can tell Angelina and Hermione.”

George’s heart sank. He hadn’t thought of her when he got the idea in his mind that he was done with school. There was no doubt that she would be very disappointed in him. She would probably be hurt as well that he was abandoning her in the most stressful year of her academic career. The boys sat down and got to work thinking of a plan.

Once they had all the details, Fred decided he was going to bed. “Are you coming?” He asked his twin.

“In a bit.” George replied. “Don’t wait up, it’s fine.”

The twin nodded before leaving George to sit by the sleeping girl. “Hermione… what am I going to tell you?” He sighed and brushed her hair gently while she softly breathed in her sleep. “I don’t want to leave you; I wish I could take you with me. You need to be here for the others. They wouldn’t last a day—no they wouldn’t last an hour without you.” He chuckled to himself as he kissed the top of her head.

He lifted her gently off of the pile of books and pulled her on top of him on the squishy couch that sat in front of the fire. George pulled a blanket off of the ground and threw it over the two of them. “Goodnight, Hermione. I’ll stay here with you for tonight.”

He drifted into a deep sleep and dreamt about the girl of his dreams, Hermione Granger.

Hermione POV

When Hermione woke up, she was rather confused. The bright light made it seem like she hadn’t drawn the curtains around the bed last night. She went to rub her eyes and when she did, she discovered that she was laying on top of someone.

Hermione froze until she saw that it was George. He looked rather peaceful in his sleep. His lips were parted slightly and there was no sign of stress on his eyebrows. His arms were holding her in place on top of him and a thick, knit blanket was on top of the two of them. She smiled and rested her chin on his chest, just spending time staring up at him.

“Good morning.” He smiled and opened his eyes slightly.

“Good morning.” She smiled back at him and inched towards him to give him a quick peck on the lips. “How did I end up on top of you, exactly? I’m not complaining. Just generally curious.”

“I—err—I was deep in thought yesterday and helped you off of your books. I didn’t want to leave your side.” He smiled but in a sad way that made her think he was hiding something from her.

“What’s wrong, George?”

He pressed his lips on the top of her head. “If I tell you something, do you promise not to get mad?” George waited for Hermione to nod her head before saying, “Fred and I are leaving.”

Her stomach felt like it was doing flips inside her and her mouth went dry. She felt like throwing up. “What?”

“We can’t stand being here anymore with Umbridge. Besides, Harry needs to talk to Sirius and the only way to do that is to cause a distraction. Fred and I are more than happy to be just that, a distraction.” George wouldn’t look her in the eyes.

“When?” She breathed out, fighting tears from spilling out of her eyes.

“Tomorrow after you fifth years do the career advice meetings.” The words were hollow as they came out of his voice. “We have to create a diversion so that Harry can get the message out. It’ll be a good sign that the Order can trust us and allow us to join.”

Hermione shook her head. “You can’t join because you’re in school, George.”

He chuckled. “Except, we won’t be. We will be done with Hogwarts after tomorrow.”

The tears were now spilling out onto her cheek and she buried her head into his chest, embarrassed to show the emotion that was on her face. “Oh, Hermione…” He comforted her and rubbed her back. “We have to go. I’ll see you sooner than you know it. It’s already the last week of April. You won’t even have time to miss me since OWLs are in a couple of weeks and then it’s the end of term! I’ll see you right as you get off of the Hogwarts Express.”

She got up and wiped the tears off of her cheeks. “I have to go and get ready for classes.” Hermione absentmindedly picked up all the books and stuffed them in her bag. It was hard with the tears blocking her vision.

George helped her and apologized with every book he handed her. The girl didn’t answer any of his pleads as she ran up to the girls’ dormitory to let out her cries in peace.

George POV

In the Great Hall, he looked around him, taking in his surroundings for what may be the last few times he is in the room. The way Angelina had red, puffy eyes, George could tell that Fred had told her as well what they were planning on doing.

Hermione wouldn’t even look at George and whenever he made a joke, she didn’t laugh. Fred looked at Harry and then tilted his head to his twin as if to signal that now was the time to tell Harry of their plan. “Hey.” Fred said casually as he stretched his legs out, knocking down books that were piled by Ron’s feet. “We have a plan for you to talk to Sirius.”

Angelina let out a little whimper and got up to storm out of the Great Hall. Harry looked at the scene very confused. “Yea, I thought I’d like—”

“Don’t be so ridiculous. With Umbridge groping around in the fires and frisking all the owls? You all will get caught.” Hermione snipped and flipped her hair over her shoulder. No longer did she sound like George’s Hermione but she was Prefect Hermione.

He smiled at her. “We figured out a way around that, Hermione…”

The girl gave him a look as if to not try and make this harder on her. George turned his attention back to Harry. “It’s a simple matter of causing a diversion. Now, you might have noticed that we have been rather quiet on the mayhem front.”

“What was the point, we asked ourselves of disrupting calm times when we could do the most damage leading up to OWLs?” Fred smiled. “It’s business as usual tomorrow. The Weasley twins are back on their usual chaos trips.”

George nodded in agreement. “We figured, that if we are causing the biggest uproar that we’ve ever planned before, why not inform Harry so that he can chat with Sirius. You’ll talk to him with the fireplace in Umbridge’s office.”

“Are you actually insane?” Hermione leaned forward to hiss at George. “Or has a bludger just hit your head one too many times and you have brain damage.”

“I have a knife that Sirius gave me that will open any lock even if she’s bewitched the door so _Alohomora_ won’t work.” Harry smiled at the twins.

Hermione felt her foot vibrating at a dangerous pace under the table. She wanted to cry but took a deep and shaky breath. She snapped turning to Ron, the other Prefect at the table. “What do you think about this?”

Ron shrugged. “If Harry wants to do it, it’s up to him, isn’t it?”

“Spoken like a true friend and a Weasley.” Fred cheered as he clapped Ron hard on the back. “Right, then. We’re thinking of doing it tomorrow just after lessons when the professors start doing career advice. They have to pull you in one by one and Umbridge has been telling others she is going to observe. I reckon we should be able to guarantee you… say twenty minutes?” Fred looked at George who was too busy staring at the Prefect girls who was nearly in tears.

“Yea, twenty minutes. Easy.” George mumbled.

George POV

Hermione wouldn’t even look at George for the rest of the day or the next morning. He finally pulled her aside as she was leaving her second period. He had an hour before he had to help Fred begin setting up the diversion. “What do you want, George?”

“A promise.” He looked desperately at the beautiful witch standing in front of him.

“What do you want me to promise you. I won’t make any agreement until I’m sure of what it is. I’m most certainly not helping you today with whatever dumb plan you two have prepared.” She crossed her arms.

“Write to me?” He held her hands and looked deep into her eyes with fierce emotion. “I want you to write me the longest letters you can think of and feel any single detail about your day. I want to feel like I haven’t left you here.”

“But you will be leaving me, George. Don’t you see.” Hermione blinked hard and the tears started rolling down her cheeks. “Damn it, I told myself I wasn’t going to cry today.”

He kissed the tears off of her cheek and sighed. “I’m so sorry, Hermione. We just need to see what the Order is doing. We can’t just sit around and wait for Umbridge to give us another detention.”

She let out a small whimper. “I have to get to class…”

“You never promised me.” George dropped to his knees in front of her. “Please, Hermione. Don’t let this ruin what we have going on right now.”

“What exactly are we doing?” Hermione asked him.

“I’d do anything for you, Hermione Granger. So I’m joining the Order to protect you.” He held on to her hand fiercely. “We don’t have to label anything or make it complicated since I know I’m screwing everything up—”

“Yes you are.” She interrupted.

“Yes I know you don’t approve of this. But I just need to do this. Please, I’ll make it up to you. We can figure out what we are if you would prefer over the Summer. For now, I don’t want to lose you. That’s why I’m begging you to please write to me so I know you aren’t mad at me.” He pleaded and put his head on her stomach and felt the stone underneath his knees dig in through his jeans.

“I am mad at you, George. I’m livid.” She fumed before putting a hand threw his red hair. “But… I will write to you. I promise.” Hermione let a few tears drop more before backing up. “I really have to go to class. Will I see you again?”

George smiled mischievously but it was a ghost of what he normally felt. “I wouldn’t dare leave without giving you first row seats to the show.”

Hermione POV

She was furious in Binns class as Ron and Harry tried zoning in and out of the boring lecture. “What happens if she catches them and they’re all expelled. You too, Harry! Have you even considered that is a very real possibility?”

Ron groaned in frustration. “Hermione can you please focus on the lecture so you can take notes on what Binns is saying otherwise I’ll have to.”

She smacked the back of his head with her hand. “You’re such a prick sometimes, Ronald Weasley. How about you take your own notes for a change, it won’t kill you.”

After class, it was time for the students to begin being called in for their career advice meetings. Harry went first with Professor McGonagall and Ron and Hermione sat in the Great Hall to look over more pamphlets about their career advice. The time was getting rather close to when the twins said they were going to begin the diversion which she realized was very close to being a terrible ending when she saw Umbridge in the Great Hall talking to members of the Inquisitor Squad.

Hermione had a pit in her stomach that George wasn’t going to say goodbye. As if reading her mind, Ron sniffed. “I don’t get what you see in him?”

“What?”

“George. Him and Fred are so cruel sometimes. I don’t see what you see in him.” He shook his head in frustration and peered back into an Auror pamphlet.

“Excuse you but I don’t see how that’s any of your business.” Hermione sniffed and shoved the Ministry pamphlet into her school bag. “Who else do you think I should be seeing, anyways then?”

Ron shrugged. “I dunno. Just not _George_.” He said his name with disgust and shook his head again. “It just doesn’t make sense really. You being so uptight with someone so like him.”

Hermione shook her head in fury. “Ron Weasley—I cannot believe you—”

All of a sudden, a loud crack came from the hallway. Umbridge looked up with a shocked look. “Everyone stay seated.” She called out to the fifth years who were in the Great Hall, looking at the career advice pamphlets. “I will go examine what is going on.”

Her small heels clicked and clacked on the stone floor of the Great Hall. When she opened the great double doors, she saw a small firework come into the room and explode into the sky behind her. Umbridge’s mouth fell open in shock at the possibility of someone setting off a firework inside the school.

Before she could turn back around and examine what was causing the fireworks, two red heads came flying into the Great Hall, making the pamphlets go flying into the air. They each lit of about twenty or so fireworks each. The crowd was filled with the cheers and chants of the students as they cheered the twins on the firework show.

George threw a firework that turned into a dazzling display of pink and white that resembled a heart before winking at Hermione and screaming, “Write to me!”

She felt the tears threaten to go into her eyes and found herself nodding at the wild boy on the broomstick. George gave her a huge smile and flew up to wear Fred was. Fred smiled at the students who were now piling into the Great Hall to see what all the fuss was about. “If anyone fancies buying these no light Fireworks, as demonstrated, come to number ninety-three, Diagon Alley—Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes. Our new premises!”

“Special discounts to Hogwarts students who swear they’re going to use our products to get rid of this old bat!” He pointed at Umbridge who was trying to get her hair to stop smoking.

They together called to the poltergeist who was crying in the corner at the idea of losing the twins, “Give her hell from us, Peeves!”

As Fred and George, flew out of the Great Hall and out of Hogwarts, the students hollered and broke into thunderous applause. Hermione let out a single tear and whispered. “I’ll miss you.”


	15. Dumbledore's Weapon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Sirius is being tortured right now. We can’t waste any time!” Harry urged his friends as he went storming up to Umbridge’s office.  
>  “Harry wait!” She called after him. “What if it’s a trap?”  
>  “What if it’s not, Hermione? What if Sirius is dying right now as we debate checking in on him. I’m not wasting anymore time. Ginny. Luna. Can you be a lookout?”  
>  Ginny squared her shoulders. “Of course, Harry.” She gripped his hand briefly before dropping it and waiting for more directions.  
>  “Ron can be the distraction.” Harry nodded at his friend.  
>  Hermione shook her head. She was so worried that they were walking straight into a trap, but she knew that Harry would not rest until he checked to see if Sirius was at No. 12 Grimmauld Place.

Chapter Fifteen

Hermione POV

The Gryffindor Prefect refused to let herself mope about losing George at the school. Instead, she threw herself into her studies for the OWLs. The date for the big tests snuck up on her as well as the other 5th years out of nowhere.

The morning of the first exam, no one was really talking much at Breakfast. Hermione was trying to reread _Achievement in Charming_ at a record pace and it was making her eye twitch. Pavarati was practicing incantations under her breath and broke into tears when she kept getting two of them mixed up.

Once the other students left the Great Hall, the tables were changed into rows of desks where each desk had a quill, ink, and a parchment paper that was completely blank. Professor McGonagall was standing facing them. Once everyone was seated, she flipped a large glass timer and said, “You may begin.”

Hermione looked as the Professor waved her wands and the answers appeared on the parchment paper. She was reading as fast as she could and began to frantically circle the correct answers for the multiple-choice options and write down logical and intelligent answers for the short answer portions.

She was the first student to finish her exam and she re-read her answers multiple times before handing it into McGonagall. Her transfigurations professor gave her a rare smile before telling her she was free to go.

Hermione sat on a bench outside of the Great Hall and waited for the other two to walk out of the room. When she saw Harry and Ron she popped up from her spot. “Well that wasn’t too bad was it?”

After lunch, it was time for the fifth years to complete their practical examination. When Hermione’s name was called, she walked inside with her hands trembling at her side. When Hermione walked in, she wanted to silently curse her luck because she got paired up with McGonagall herself to do her practical exam. “Are you ready, Miss. Granger?”

Hermione nodded and completed the tasks that her professor was asking without a second thought, trusting her instincts and reminding herself to breathe after every incantation. Professor McGonagall thanked her for her time without giving her any inclination on how she had just done.

At the end of the week, Hermione slumped into the couch that was her favorite this year. She sighed and pulled out a blank piece of parchment. She hadn’t written to George yet. She had to calm down and stop being angry first and then she was so swept up with the exam prep that she didn’t want to take a second away from studying.

In her chest, she felt guilty. He was probably wondering why she hadn’t written. She smoothed out the parchment and began to write:

_George_

 _How have you been? I’m terribly sorry for not writing sooner. I just have been so busy with all of the OWL exams! I’m so glad that we were able to practice extra this year_ (at Dumbledore’s Army she thought to herself) _because I think it really helped me ace some of my exams. Well I suppose I hope that I ace them. I don’t want to get ahead of myself._

_McGonagall gave me a smile when I turned in my Transfiguration exam which has to be a good sign. Snape even told me that I turned in an adequate potion which I think is the best compliment he has ever given me._

_How is the joke shop coming along? Ginny tells me you and Fred moved out of the Burrow. That’s a shame. I was hoping to see you this Summer when I visit Ginny and Ron. Perhaps you will have to give a tour of the shop and your flat._

_Anyways, I have to go to study for my next weeks exam._

_I hope to see you soon._

_With love,_

_Miss. Prefect Granger_

George POV

Getting into the Order had proved to be harder than Fred and he expected. His mother was livid that they left school early and wanted to use the Order as a punishment. They were thankful for Remus and Sirius who stood up for them.

They were getting to know the members a lot more. Remus and Sirius spent a lot of time together and when they asked Tonks about it she laughed and replied. “Don’t you spend a lot of time with Angelina and Hermione?”

Fred and George didn’t know how to reply. He couldn’t wait for Hermione to return back for holiday so that he could tell her all that he was discovering.

Looking around the flat made him think again about being excited for her to visit. The twins were living in less than desirable conditions at the moment since they were spending any time possible downstairs in the joke shop. George shuddered to think what Hermione would think if he saw that last night, they had pizza on top of a cardboard box in the middle of the flat.

It was as if there wasn’t any time in the day. Once they found themselves back upstairs, it was hardly enough time to eat, shower, and go to bed. George made a mental note that he would get his room unpacked so she could visit as soon as possible.

He was in the middle of making a checklist in his head when he had received her first letter addressed to him and it made him want to jump for joy. After reading it, he had pulled out a piece of parchment from a half un-packed box in his flat and went to work responding.

_My dear Hermione,_

_I do wish that I could say the flat was in good shape right now. Fred and I are so busy getting the joke shop together that I’m afraid that we only have our beds unpacked and shower items. I promise it will be in pristine condition when you come to visit._

_Mum let Fred and I use the kitchen finally. I think that she had to be convinced by Dad to trust us._ He hoped that she would understand that he was referring to the Order meetings and not simply cooking in the flat. _I can’t wait for you to visit. I miss you more and more every day._

_I hope that Ron and Ginny aren’t driving you insane. You can’t trust Weasley’s, trust me, I would know._

_Sent with plenty of kisses and jokes,_

_George_

He attached the letter to the Hogwarts owl and returned it to the curly haired Gryffindor girl. George sighed and wished that he could see her smile or hear her enchanting laugh. He was pulled out of his thoughts as Fred chucked a piece of Ton-Tongue Toffee at the back of his head, signally that it was time to get back to work stocking the shelves and making products for their inventory.

Hermione POV

“Sirius is being tortured right now. We can’t waste any time!” Harry urged his friends as he went storming up to Umbridge’s office.

“Harry wait!” She called after him. “What if it’s a trap?”

“What if it’s not, Hermione? What if Sirius is dying right now as we debate checking in on him. I’m not wasting anymore time. Ginny. Luna. Can you be a lookout?”

Ginny squared her shoulders. “Of course, Harry.” She gripped his hand briefly before dropping it and waiting for more directions.

“Ron can be the distraction.” Harry nodded at his friend.

Hermione shook her head. She was so worried that they were walking straight into a trap, but she knew that Harry would not rest until he checked to see if Sirius was at No. 12 Grimmauld Place. “I’ll go with you under the Invisibility Cloak, Harry.” She put her hand on his shoulder.

“The signal is Weasley is our King.” Ginny said and nodded her head before her and Luna disappeared down the corridor.

Ron nodded at his two best friends. “Good luck, you two.” He was off, running down the stone corridor as fast as he could calling for Peeves.

Hermione and Harry got under the Invisibility Cloak and ran as fast as they could without the cloak exposing them. Once they inserted Sirius’ blade into her door, it clicked open revealing the foul perfume smell that was so pungent in her office. Hermione let out a sigh of relief when she saw that the office was empty.

Harry knelt down to the fire grate while Hermione stared at the grounds for Umbridge with her wand out. “Sirius? Sirius are you there?” Harry called out.

Kreacher the house-elf answered instead. Hermione’s stomach dropped when the house-elf answered that Sirius had gone out of the house. He never left No. 12 Grimmauld Place. Never. Harry was shouting at the house elf and asking him if any other member of the Order were there. “Nobody is here but Kreacher.” The elf taunted. “The Master will not come back from the Department of Ministries.”

The blood that was flowing through Hermione’s veins turned into ice. Sirius was in trouble. Harry was right. She turned around to look at Harry when Draco Malfoy’s cruel smirk was in her face. The Slytherin boy threw his hand over her mouth so she couldn’t scream and warn Harry.

He was yanked away from the fire by Umbridge. “Who was so important that you felt it was okay to break into my office? Hmm? Was it Dumbledore? Or the half-breed Hagrid?”

As Umbridge was taunting Harry, more and more of the Dumbledore’s Army who were helping Harry talk to Sirius were being pulled inside the small office, each being tugged by a member of the Inquisitor Squad.

All of the Gryffindors were trying their hardest to throw the Slytherin off of them, but they were too strong. Hermione was trying to fight off Millicent Bulstrode, who Malfoy had given permission to watch Hermione since he wanted to deal with Harry Potter. “Calm down, mudblood.” The Slytherin girl cackled as she smacked Hermione’s lip, causing it to swell up and begin to bleed. Luna was the only member of the DA who was standing there, not trying to fight back. Instead, she looked out the window looking quite bored.

As Umbridge was shrieking, the door opened, and Snape walked in. He looked at the scene and merely raised his eyebrows. “You called for me?”

“Yes. I need some more Veritaserum to use on Harry Potter.”

“Unfortunately, you took my last bottle in my supply. It will take a month to make another bottle. It is a rather time-consuming potion.” He drawled as if he was bored.

As the professor went to leave Harry took this opportunity to scream. “He’s got Padfoot at the palce where it’s hidden.”

“What on earth is he talking about?” Umbridge demanded.

Hermione whimpered, wishing that Harry would be quiet for once in his life. Snape merely raised his eyebrows. “No idea…”

“Well… if you aren’t going to talk I will have to use the cruciatous curse on you to get you to begin speaking.” Umbridge huffed and set her portrait of Cornelius Fudge upside down on her desk. She turned around and faced Ron with her wand raised.

“No!” Hermione shrieked. “Harry, if you don’t tell her. I will.”

Ron and Harry both gave her an incredulous look when Umbridge smiled wickedly. “No one of you are making sense. Let’s go. Harry and Hermione. Come on now, children.”

Hermione let out a small tear. “Dumbledore is hiding the weapon that he wasn’t able to finish when he was at school. That’s why Harry was trying to contact him. We finished it.”

“Lead me to the weapon, now.”


	16. Department of Ministries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "They're all in trouble, George. Ginny, Ron, Harry... Hermione."  
> "No." George snarled with his eyes wild. "She can't be. I joined the Order to keep her safe."

Chapter Sixteen

George POV

“George! George! Come now!” Fred came running into the joke shop with a pale look on his face and a frantic sound in his voice. “We have to go, now.”

“Woah, Freddie. What’s going on?” George held up his hands to slow his twin down.

Fred shook his head furiously back and forth. “They’re in trouble.”

“Who’s in trouble? Fred slow down.” George asked with his head spinning with confusion as he took off the apron that he wore at the joke shop.

“They’re all in trouble, George. Ginny, Ron, Harry… Hermione.”

“No.” George snarled with his eyes wild. “She can’t be. I joined the Order to keep her safe. Where are they?”

“We have to go. They’re at the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry! Come on, Tonks just called us. They walked into a trap.”

They apparated as fast as possible to No. 12 Grimmauld Place and walked into the front door. Sirius was screaming at Kreacher in the entranceway. “HOW DARE YOU TELL HIM THAT I WENT TO THE DEPARTMENT OF MINSITRIES. DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU’VE DONE?”

George stumbled into the kitchen where the others were. Lupin and Mad-Eye were devising a plan to get to the Ministry now which meant taking down the apparating wards that didn’t allow people to apparat into them. Fred and he stood by the door, bouncing with anticipation to go into battle. All George could think of was protecting Hermione Granger from any danger.

“No! You are not going.” Mrs. Weasley screamed when she walked through the door and saw them, pulling him out of his thoughts of the curly haired Gryffindor girl.

“Oh, yes we are.” Fred said sternly. “You don’t have an excuse to not let us go. We are of age and we are not at Hogwarts anymore. Besides if we did go to school still, we’d be walking headfirst into this mess with the rest of them.”

Their mother opened her mouth to begin yelling at them when Tonks agreed with them as she sat at the table. “The more people we have on our side, Molly, the better chance we have of rescuing the others. Think of Ginny and Ron. They need people right now. Let them help.”

Their mother began crying and wrapped the boys into tight hugs. “Don’t get yourselves killed or so help me; I’ll kill you!”

George chuckled and rubbed his mother’s back. “That kind of defeats the point, doesn’t it?”

She shook her head. “I don’t have to make sense. I’m a mother who is grieving that the majority of her family is going into a battle.”

After an intense couple minutes of debating and arguing, the leaders devised a plan. Lupin was halfway through explaining it when Sirius walked through the door, finally being done with yelling at Kreacher. “I’m going, Moony.”

Lupin seemed to freeze at his Marauder nickname. “Sirius. No… it’s too dangerous. What if someone sees you?”

“I’ve been hiding for far too long. I’m not afraid. I’m only afraid of losing my family.” He held on to Remus’ hands. “I promised Harry that we would be a proper family when this was over. Don’t make me break that promise. I have to make sure you’re okay.”

Mad-Eye grunted. “Not to break up a lover’s quarrel but we really do need to get moving. Now. Follow the plan and whatever happens, don’t look back. I don’t care if anyone dies.”

Hermione POV

Harry had just closed his fingers around the dusty ball and held it up when a voice that sounded familiar drawled. “Now turn around, nice and slowly, and give it to me.” It was Lucius Malfoy. Hermione’s insides turned to ice.

Black shapes were emerging out of the air and they were soon surrounded. Hermione held up her wand and suppressed a whimper that was threatening to escape her lips. “Where’s Sirius?” Harry demanded.

The wicked looking witch from the front page of the Daily Prophet cackled from besides Lucius. “The little baby woke up so scared looking for his god father, did he?”

Ron held up his wand before Harry shot him a warning. “Don’t do anything. Not yet—”

“How cute! He’s giving orders like they have a fighting chance. What are you children, against us.” She motioned her wand to the other menacing figures that were closing in around them.

Harry took the opportunity to yell at the others. “RUN!”

The members of the DA darted in every which direction, deflecting spells that the death eaters were shooting off at them. Hermione knocked out a death eater who was getting ready to kill her when she tripped and began to bleed on her palms. She quickly forced herself to get back up and keep running. She heard Harry’s voice. “Get to the circular room! Hurry!” She urged her feet to run faster as she caught up with the others.

“I think we lost them.” Neville panted.

“I don’t think it would be that easy…” Harry looked confused. “It can’t be… there’s something coming from that archway, I can hear the voices.”

Hermione looked confused. “There aren’t any voices, Harry. Let’s keep going.”

Luna stepped up to Harry’s side. “I hear them too…”

“Get behind me! The voices, they’re warning me.” Harry shouted at his friends.

They all did what they were told and raised their wands, ready for an attack. They were soon pounded with black figures who were grabbing them and whisking them away. Hermione found herself being held with a wand to her throat by a deatheater. When she looked around, she noticed that all the other members of the D.A. were in a similar situation except for Harry.

“Did you actually think you could stop us?” Lucius Malfoy sneered. “Give me the prophecy, now. Or watch all of your friends die.”

Hermione let a single tear slip out of her. She was going to die. She was going to die and there was nothing any test could prepare her for this moment. Neville screamed from across the circle, being held by Bellatrix. “Don’t give it to him, Harry!”

Harry ignored the boy and held out his hand, putting the prophecy into Malfoy’s hand. Hermione let out a gasp when a white light appeared bringing Sirius Black in front of Malfoy. “Get away from my godson, Malfoy.” Sirius said as he cranked his arm back and punched Malfoy square in the jaw, sending the deatheater to fall backwards and break the Prophecy on the ground.

More white lights filled the room and other Order members appeared in front of them. Chaos ensued as the deatheaters were fighting back against the members. Hermione made eye contact with George and Fred who ran over to her. “I don’t have my wand! It’s gone!” She cried to them as George grabbed her hand.

“Let’s go. Grab Ginny!” George shouted at Fred who ran off to retrieve their sister’s hand and bring her to safety.

“I thought I was going to die, George.” Hermione let her protective wall crack and another tear roll down her face as he ran with her, away from the fighting that was behind her.

“I’m sorry, Hermione. But we don’t have time right now. We have to get you out of here.” George hid behind a rock and threw a red shot of light of his wand at a deatheater who was approaching them. “Go with Ginny, Luna, and Tonks…”

“No!” Hermione cried out. “I’m not leaving you.”

“Hermione, we don’t have time to argue about this.” George pleaded with her.

“It’s not an argument because it’s not happening. Forget about it, George. You’re either coming with me or I’m staying with you. You choose.”

He closed his eyes and cursed under his breath. “Accio wand!” He cried out and Hermione’s wand came flying into his hand. When George placed it into her hand, he looked at her very seriously into her eyes. “Don’t make me regret letting you stay here and fight. Don’t get hurt.”

Simultaneously, the twins and Hermione began to attack the deatheaters that were trying to close around them and the escaping girls. Hermione landed an attack square into the chest of the deatheater that was holding her captive.

She looked around to take in her surroundings when she saw Bellatrix and Sirius dueling. “Is that the best you got?” Sirius taunted.

Bellatrix cackled and sent him flying into the veil, disappearing. Harry screamed and tried to run and get Sirius but was stopped by Lupin wrapping his arms around him and keeping him from chasing after him. “He’s gone!” Remus called to Harry. “Let him go.”

Harry shook the old professor off of his grip and went chasing after Bellatrix. “Harry no!” Hermione screamed but was blocked by another deatheater. “I have to get to him!” She turned to the twins.

“Are you crazy?” George asked while his eyes were threatening to pop out of his head. “You’re staying right here, next to me. Do you understand?”

“But George—”

“He’s right, Hermione!” Fred shouted over the spells that were being thrown at both sides. “There’s no time to fight. Let’s go.”

Before they could leave, Hermione saw a flash of light coming towards her and she was knocked out. All she could remember was hearing a boy scream, “No!”

George POV

He had fallen asleep with his head on the hospital bed, on her stomach. It helped George fall asleep knowing that her lungs kept filling with hair and exhaling. She still hasn’t woken up. He knew that she wasn’t the most beat up of the group. Tonk’s had to go to St. Mungo’s after protecting Luna, Ginny, and Neville.

George rubbed his eyes with one of his hands while he kept the other one firmly held onto hers. She was still wearing the dainty lion bracelet that he had given to her for Christmas. He reflected on how long ago that was. She could have died without him telling her exactly how he felt.

Hermione’s eyes fluttered open and she began to hyperventilate. “George?! Harry?! Ron?! Ginny?!”

“Shh… shh… Hermione, you’re okay. You’re okay. You’re at Hogwarts in the hospital wing.” George held onto her hand with both of his and leaned forward so that she saw his face.

“George!” She cried and wrapped her arms around him tightly before backing off. “Ow!” Hermione winced and laid back down. “How did I get here?”

“I was distracted for a second. For one second. And a deatheater got you with a Stupefy—” George shook his head in disgust. “I have never wanted to kill someone before in my life. I’m glad Fred got to him first because if I had—”

Hermione held his face with her hands. “Hey, hey, hey. Stop that talk. I’m okay and I’m here now. There’s no need to think like that.”

“Hermione you could have died! What were you thinking? I thought you were supposed to keep the boys out of trouble?” George shook his head. “Now… Lupin won’t even leave his room. He’s so torn up about losing Sirius.”

The Gryffindor looked at her hands with guilt. “I thought it was a trap. I even tried to tell them.”

“It doesn’t matter now.” George shook his head. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”

“How is Harry?”

“He’s fine. Well as fine as you can be after the ordeal he just went through.” George looked up and around the room. “Will you please just stay laying very still while I get Madame Pomphrey. Seriously, Hermione. Do not move.” He got up and ran as fast as he could to the office and breathlessly said. “Hermione Granger is up.”

The two returned to her bed. “I think you should go check on the other’s while I examine—”

“I’m not leaving her side.” George snipped at the healer. “Sorry, I just… I can’t leave her side.” He sank back into the wooden chair that was pulled up next to her cot.

Madame Pomphrey huffed and began to work around George. She assessed Hermione and decided that she needed to stay another night in the Hospital Wing. The girl smiled and thanked the healer before turning to George. “So… you’re a member of the Order now?”

George smiled. “I was hoping you would catch on by my letter.”

Hermione blushed. “I don’t think I ever received it… sorry. I would’ve been excited for you and Fred. I am excited for you both, I mean.”

He shook his head. “No matter. The only thing that matters is that you’re okay.” George kissed the top of her head. “I do need to talk to you.”

Hermione caught her breath. “About?”

“I couldn’t stop thinking about what would happen if you or I were to get hurt, like really hurt, and I didn’t tell you how I feel.” He took a deep breath and looked into her eyes. “I love you, Hermione. I don’t want to be with anyone other than you.”

The girl smiled and blushed a violent shade of red. “Oh yea, Weasley?” She giggled before saying in a shy voice. “I love you too…”

He leaned in and kissed her lips, gently, making sure not to break open the cut on her lip. “Be my girl, Hermione.” George whispered to her with a smile as he backed up slightly.

“Always and Forever, George.” She put her hand on his cheek.

“Always and Forever.” He agreed with a wink and another kiss.


	17. End of Summer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Huh, you’ve got an admirer.” George glared at a boy who was standing behind Hermione’s back. “Hopefully he doesn’t get his hands on a love potion. I’ll let him know they’re not for sale to him.”
> 
> The girl rolled her brown eyes. “You don’t have to worry about me going back to school, George. Everything will be fine. I’ll send you the dates for the Hogsmeade trips so that I can see you during the year and I’ll stay at the Burrow for every holiday. Besides, I’m not interested in anyone but you, silly.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone who is reading this!
> 
> Thank you all so much for the support on this fan fiction. I took some time off before writing again. The rest of this fan fic is going to take place during Half Blood Prince and the Deathly Hallows. Obviously, George and Hermione are not going to be together as much so this will show how I think their relationships would work/ continue in those books.
> 
> I hope you all enjoy!

Chapter Seventeen

Hermione POV

The sixteen-year-old Gryffindor girl flipped through the large novel as she sat inside the window nook at the Weasley’s flat. Hermione was momentarily writing down notes on the muggle post-it notes and placing them inside the textbook when something appeared of importance to her as she read through the information in the leather-bound book. “Anything good you reading, love?” A loud crack filled the room and George Weasley apparated at the other end of the reading nook and placed her feet over his lap.

She chuckled and held up the textbook. “Just reading about Ancient Runes currently.”

George raised his eyebrows and leaned in. “Ooo, fascinating. What time are you meeting the others today?” He got up and walked over to the kitchen and poured himself a cup of coffee into a Gryffindor glazed mug. “Coffee?”

She nodded her head and smiled. This had been her new normal for some weekends over the Summer that her parents let her spend her time here. Although, she did leave out the fact that George and Fred had moved into their own apartment, they assumed she was at the Burrow. George filled up another mug that had a moving logo advertising the joke shop that was downstairs. He put in a splash of cream and sugar just how Hermione liked it before bringing it over to the girl. “Thank you!” She smiled and wrapped her fingers around the arm mug, setting her book aside temporarily.

“Will you promise to come bother us for a bit today?” George asked with a smirk. “If you’re lucky I’ll give you the girlfriend discount…”

“Oh, yeah?” She asked. “What’s that… 10% off?”

“I’m hurt you would think of me being that cheap. It’s actually 15% off!” George winked at her and laughed before taking a long sip from his coffee. “Only joking… you know I would never charge you for anything.”

Hermione smiled softly before giving him a small peck on his freckled cheek. “Thank you, George. You’re the best.”

The Weasley boy blushed at the touch of her lips and smiled at her. “I better get going. I promised Fred that I would help him face all the shelves before we opened. Just wanted to check in on you and make sure you were okay before I abandoned you for the day.”

Hermione rolled her eyes. “I’m a big kid, I can handle myself. Besides, you know that I can get lost in my reading. Don’t worry about me.”

“I’ll always worry about you, Hermione. It’s my job.” He smiled at her before downing the rest of his black coffee from the bright mug and winked at her. “Well, I best be off. I hope to see you later today! We can get dinner tonight with Fred and Angelina or do something fun since I can’t be with you today. Promise.” He held out his pinky and they wrapped their fingers around each other before George leant down and gave her a quick peck on the lips. “Catch you later, Granger.” His warm brown eyes seemed to dance with excitement before he disapparated with a loud crack filling the room.

The Gryffindor girl got changed into a pair of maroon wizarding robes over her muggle clothing and looked out the window to see Ginny, Ron, and Harry waving at her through the window on the street. She smiled and ran down to the courtyard to see them. “I’m so happy to see you all!” She attacked her two friends with a hug around their neck and then turned to Ginny and winked. “You better inform me of the last letter you got from Dean. You were very vague in your last letter about what was going on exactly between you two.”

Ginny blushed and gave Hermione a hug. “Shh! I don’t want Ron to hear.”

The rumor going around was that Ginny had begun to date Dean Thomas over the Summer. Hermione knew that if she could pull her friend away from the boys that she would get more information about what has been going on. “Let’s go get our supplies.” Harry said as he glanced between Ginny and Hermione with a confused look on his face.

The group of Gryffindor’s walked into the shops to grab their books for this term. Hermione shuddered at how dark and ominous it looked at Diagon Alley. The alley looked nothing as in her past years of school supply shopping. It was clearly being run by death eaters who were tormenting half of the shop owners on the street. Hermione was always worried about Fred and George when she read another article in the Prophet about the shops getting raided and destroyed.

“Let’s go to the joke shop!” Ginny smiled. “I want a pigmy puff. They’re so cute.”

“How’s George been, Hermione?” Harry asked with a kind smile while Ron just shoved his hands deep into his front pockets of his hand me down cloak.

“He’s been great! The twins are working hard on creating new products, so they keep quite busy. It’s been nice to get a lot of Summer reading done while they work during the days. We usually hangout at their flat at night, Diagon Alley has been quite dodgy lately.” Hermione smiled as they walked towards the bright and bustling shop at the end of the street.

When the group of students stepped in through the door, the twins were standing up on a bright ladder and chanting at the crowd of laughing Hogwarts students. “Step up, step up! We’ve got puking pastilles, ton-tongue toffees! Anything you might need to get out of classes!”

When the twins caught a glimpse at the group of Gryffindors who just walked through the purple front door, they winked before apparating next to them. “Hello everyone.” They said in unison before George stole a kiss on Hermione’s cheek. Ron grunted something about privacy under his breath.

“Harry, whatever you want. Honestly.” Fred beamed at the messy haired boy. “Without you our dreams would never come true of opening up this shop.”

“What about me?” Ginny cried as Harry and Ron disappeared look at the products against that lined the wall on their left. “I’m your sister.”

“For our favorite sister, 50% off.” Fred winked. “Don’t tell, Ron. He’s not going to get the same discount. He still owes me money from betting against Angelina in a game of Wizard’s Snap.”

“Don’t worry, Hermione. You and Angelina are getting the same discount that I told you about before.” George winked at her before being pulled away by a customer who had a question about a potion that made you glow.

Fred looked at the girls and smiled. “We will see you guys in a bit, have to go talk to customers. Feel free to grab a basket!” With a flash of red hair, he disappeared behind his twin.

The two girls began to wonder around the crowded shop looking at all of the crazy inventions that the twins had come up with that seemed to pile from the floor to the tall ceiling. “Isn’t it crazy that this time last year, they were just barely working on a few products?” Ginny asked as she picked up a pink bottle. “Love potion? This can’t honestly work.”

Hermione eyed it suspiciously. “I smelled it when it was the stronger formula last year. It really did work then. I would be too nervous to try it out now.”

“Did George slip you one? Is that how you know?” Ginny giggled to her friend and wiggled her eyebrows, just how the twins did when they were teasing someone. It must have been a learned behavior.

Hermione rolled her eyes and playfully shoved her friend’s shoulder. “Oh, come off it. He wouldn’t do that. It smells like the person you desire. Or, now, it smells like the person who bought the potion. It’s kind of a play on the original potion.”

“Love potions…” The twins sang on either side of the girls.

Fred winked mischievously at his sister. “From what we hear, you don’t need any help in the love department, Gin.”

Ginny crossed her arms across her Gryffindor Quidditch jumper. Her eyes narrowed and her tone became accusing, “What exactly does that mean?”

George laughed and wiggled his eyebrows, just like Ginny just did to Hermione. “From what we hear, you’re dating Dean Thomas.”

“I don’t see how that’s any of your business.” Ginny sniffed and shot a glare to Hermione. “I wonder where you got your information.” 

Fred let out a loud and boisterous laugh. “Hermione didn’t tell us anything but with that look, it makes me think that the rumors are true.”

“We hear a lot of things from around the shop. Apparently, a Hufflepuff girl is jealous of you and wants to slip Dean a love potion. Thought you would want a heads up.” George slipped the love potion into Ginny’s empty basket. “You can have that one on the house in case you have to start a love potion war.”

“Just make sure if you do slip anyone that potion, you tell all the girls where you got it from! Let them know we take mail orders, too.” Fred slipped a blank mail order form on top of the potion. “Thanks, Gin.”

Ginny laughed and rolled her eyes. “Where are the pygmy puffs? That’s what I really wanted to check out.”

Fred wrapped his arms around his sister’s shoulder and began to tell her about the wonders of pygmy puffs with a sweeping hand as he led her to a large display in the back of the room. “Business seems to be really good! I’m so proud of you and Fred.” Hermione smiled at George who beamed at the compliment. She stood up on her tippy toes and gave him a peck on his cheek.

“Huh, you’ve got an admirer.” George glared at a boy who was standing behind Hermione’s back. “Hopefully he doesn’t get his hands on a love potion. I’ll let him know they’re not for sale to him.”

The girl rolled her brown eyes. “You don’t have to worry about me going back to school, George. Everything will be fine. I’ll send you the dates for the Hogsmeade trips so that I can see you during the year and I’ll stay at the Burrow for every holiday. Besides, I’m not interested in anyone but you, silly.”

This seemed to calm George and he smiled down at her. The boys returned over to Hermione and George as well as Ginny and Fred joining them. “Okay Ron, that’ll be five Galleons,” Fred said after examining the merchandise in his hands.

“But I’m your brother!”

The twins looked at each other and shrugged. “Okay, ten Galleons!”

Ron swore under his breath and dropped the merchandise back onto one of the shelves. As he walked back from the shelf, the Golden trio got a clear look at the window. They spotted none other than Draco Malfoy who was walking through the streets looking rather suspicious in billowing, black robes. Harry nudged Hermione. “Why does Draco look like he doesn’t want to be followed?” He turned his attention to George who was still standing next to them, behind Hermione. “Can you make sure no one is looking?”

George glanced nervously at the boy and his girlfriend before cracking into a large smile as if he didn’t have a care in the world. “Come one, come all for a demonstrating of our no light fireworks that kickstarted Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes!” He ran back up half of the looping stairs and pulled a firework out of his pocket to begin a show that attracted all of the eyes of the customers in the shop, giving the trio their opportunity.

Hermione gave him a small smile before diving under Harry’s invisibility cloak with the two other boys. They quickly followed Malfoy down Knockturn Alley. “I don’t like this, Harry.” she whimpered slightly, “You know that nothing good ever happens down at these shops.”

“Look, in Borgin and Burkes.” Harry whispered to the other two Gryffindors.

“If only we could hear what he was saying to the others in there…” Hermione trailed off in thought of how to get closer to the scenario.

Ron lit up next to Harry. “We can! Extendable Ears! I got one in my pocket!”

“Brilliant!” Hermione smiled at him as he unraveled the joke shop product. The trio put their heads together so that they could all fit around the ear and listened to the conversation inside the Knockturn Alley shop.

Malfoy’s annoyed and arrogant drawl filled their ears. “I can’t bring it into the shop to be fixed. It has to stay put. I need you to instruct me on how to fix it myself, Borgin.”

“Well, without seeing it… I must say it will be a very difficult job, perhaps impossible. I couldn’t guarantee anything.” Borgin was wringing his fingers as he looked nervously at the rich wizard in his shop.

Malfoy cocked his head to the side. “Perhaps this will make you more confident.” The Slytherin teenager moved towards the man and blocked the view with his back. Hermione couldn’t see what was going on but Borgin looked terrified. “Freyir Greyback is a family friend and will be checking in on time to time to make sure that you are being… discrete.”

Borgin nodded and looked severely shaken up when Malfoy stormed out of the store with a smirk across his face. “Let’s go back.” Hermione said to the others. “I don’t want to be in Knockturn Alley any longer than I have to be.”

They hurriedly walked back to the bustling and lively joke shop that was such a strange site on the otherwise dead and dark street. Hermione thought to herself that this year would be darker than any other year at Hogwarts with the death eaters on the run…

George POV

When the Golden Trio had returned, his parents had joined them at the joke shop. Ginny was accusing them of leaving her out of whatever plan they had gone through with and Hermione smiled sheepishly at her friend and just shook her head, telling her to drop the subject.

George grabbed her hands and raised his eyebrows to her as if to see if she was okay. She smiled softly and shrugged. “Lot on my mind.” Hermione replied while looking around the shop.

The Weasley family decided it was time to return to the Burrow. “I need to talk to the boys. Will you and Fred meet us for dinner at the Burrow?” Hermione looked rather worried and George figured it was better to wait until they were in private to ask her what was going on. He knew that when she was ready to talk about what was on her mind, she would.

He nodded. “Sure, sure. We got loads to do here anyways. You would probably be stuck at the flat for a while. We will go to the Burrow as soon as possible. Promise.” George held out his pinky in the gesture of a pinky promise that Hermione had taught him from the muggle world. She giggled at the gesture and returned the pinky promise.

The curly-haired girl ran off with his family and they apparated out of sight. George hardly had any time to worry about her throughout the rest of the day. Before they knew it, it was time to their employees’ home and put the protective wards onto the shop. “Tell Angelina that we are going to the Burrow for dinner.”

Fred nodded and sent a Patronus charm of a magpie to Angelina telling her where to go. Together they nodded and with a loud crack, apparated to the Burrow. Their mother wrapped them in tight hugs as they walked through the entrance. “The others are in the living room! Angelina arrived a few moments before you.”

The twins went into the lively living room where everyone seemed to be talking over one another. Fred went to sit behind Angelina on the floor by the crackling fire as she was in a heated conversation with Ginny over Quidditch. George glanced to Hermione who was biting her fingernails and looking at the ground as Ron and Harry talked with their heads close together beside her.

They were never able to find a quite time to talk about what was making her so upset throughout the night at the Burrow between all the talking with everyone in the family. After everyone began to retire for the night, the twins and their girlfriends decided it was a good time to apparate back to the flat. Their parents gave them big hugs before they left.

George and Hermione sunk onto his quilted bed. He looked at her as she stared at the ceiling waiting for her to tell him what was wrong. “Malfoy is up to something.” She finally said as a crease formed in between her eyebrows. “We followed him today down Knockturn Alley.”

“What was he doing there?”

She shook her head. “That’s the thing… I don’t know. He was threatening the shop owner. I’m just worried about everything going on.”

George tucked her head over his arms so that she could rest her head on his shoulder. “It’ll be alright, Hermione. You, Harry, and Ron will figure it all out and save the day like usual.”

Hermione closed her eyes and sighed. “That’s the problem. What if our luck is running out soon?” Her voice hitched and the panic was clear on her face.

“Hey, hey, hey…” He smiled at her and brushed her hair in a comforting manner. “It’ll be alright. I promise. I’ll make sure that you’re safe and everything is fine. I just want you to worry about your N.E.W.T’s which I’m sure you’ll have no issue doing.”

She giggled and looked at him with a soft smile on her face. “Thank you, George.”

He kissed the tip of her nose. “No need to thank me. Come on. Let’s go to sleep.” He pulled her into his arms and gently rubbed her back until her breath calmed down and she drifted to sleep into her arms.


	18. A New Term

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When the large doors opened, and Harry walked in, she could feel her chest slightly fill with air from relief. That was, before she saw his face. The dark-haired teenage boy forced himself in-between the two Gryffindor’s. “What’ve you done to your face?” Ron demanded as he looked at Harry’s bloody face.
> 
> “You’re covered in blood! Come here, let me fix it.” Hermione huffed as she reached into her robes and pulled out her wand. “Tergeo!”
> 
> Harry smiled. “Thanks, Hermione. How does my nose look?”
> 
> “Normal… why shouldn’t it look normal, Harry? What happened?” Hermione could feel the anxiety now reaching her heart and making it race faster than ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!
> 
> I hope you are enjoying this story.
> 
> As always, I don't own any rights to the characters or the story, I'm just a lover of George and Hermione's relationship.

Chapter Eighteen

George POV

The next day, George woke up before Hermione and he slid out from the bed to go surprise her with breakfast and coffee. When he walked out of his room, he saw Fred and Angelina sitting at the counter. “Good morning, mate.” Fred smiled as he threw a blueberry from across the room.

George caught it in his mouth with a nod. “Nothing much. Just about to make some breakfast.”

“Is Hermione ready for the upcoming school year?” Angelina asked before taking a sip of her tea. “I was talking to Ginny about Quidditch and it seems like Gryffindor is nervous about the House Cup since so many members of the team are changing around.”

George shrugged. “I think she’s alright. It’s just a lot going on in the world and she thinks it’s going to affect Hogwarts.”

The two considered that. “It seems like it always does.” Angelina decided solemnly.

He considered how the streets of the usual lively Diagon Alley looks and hoped that Hogwarts wouldn’t be met with the same fate. Surely, Hogwarts was the safest place in the world. He was thankful that his friends and family that were still attending had excellent Defense Against the Dark Arts skills, thanks to Harry, otherwise he wasn’t sure how confident he would feel.

After he had made egg, toast, and coffee for the two of them, he took the plates and mugs to the room ignoring Fred’s wolf whistle from behind him. When he walked into his room, she was sitting up in his bed and rubbing her eyes. “Morning!” He sang in a cheery voice to her as he sat next to her on the quilt. “I brought some coffee and eggs. Care for some?”

Hermione’s face filled with an appreciative smile. “You are the absolute best, George Weasley. Don’t let that get to your head.”

He kissed the top of her head. “Too late for that, Granger. Any compliment I get from you makes my ego ten times bigger. You should know that by now.”

“I must be a slow learner.” She joked between a bite of scrambled egg.

George rolled his brown eyes. “You are many things, but a slow learner is not one.”

“I’m sad you aren’t going to Hogwarts with me.” She pouted and stared down into her tan colored coffee. “It’s going to be a boring year without your antics.”

He chuckled sadly. George so desperately wished to be able to walk the halls with Hermione and protect her from any harm that may come her way. “I’m sure McGonagall would love to have Fred and I to lose points for Gryffindor.”

“Oh please. She loved you boys. I’m sure she will miss you desperately.”

George didn’t want to continue talking about Hogwarts. The thoughts of the potential danger and the nostalgia mixed together was too much for him. He smiled softly. “Well, no matter. Now we are both members of the Order. No longer being a student has some perks.”

Hermione scrunched her nose. “I wish they would let Harry, Ron, and I join the Order. We have a right to know all of these things.”

“I’ll tell you as much as I can, but it’ll have to be saved for the Hogsmeade trips and Holiday’s. Owls aren’t trustworthy anymore since they’re being monitored.”

“It’s such a weird time we live in. I haven’t told my parents what is going on. I don’t think they would let me return to Hogwarts or visit the wizarding world if they knew.”

The thought of Hermione not being able to visit him made George nauseas. “Yea let’s not have that happen. I would miss my girl too much.” He kissed her cheek which made her blush. “Well, we better get your things together, so my mum doesn’t explode on us. She made me promise to get you to the Burrow today before lunch so that you could help the boys get all of their things together.”

“You won’t miss me, too much will you, George?” Hermione smiled sadly up at the red head.

George ruffled her morning hair and kissed her lips. “I will always miss you when you’re not beside me, Hermione. Remember that.” He smiled and backed up. George then added dramatically, “I suppose I will live.”

Hermione POV

After George and Fred dropped her off at the Burrow, they stayed for the remainder of the day. They apparated home after dinner and George had embraced her like he would never see her again. The only reason they pulled apart is because Ron had walked into the kitchen at that point and made a gagging sound.

That night, Hermione had a hard time sleeping without George’s arms wrapped protectively around her to comfort her throughout the night. This year would be awful. Perhaps she shouldn’t have gotten used to sleeping at his flat above the joke shop this summer…

The next morning, Hermione, Harry, and Ron were in Ron’s room, packing up the last of their books while Harry was venting about Malfoy’s behavior. “He’s up to something and I think we should take it seriously. His father is a Death Eater, and…” The boy with the messy, black hair froze halfway through his sentence.

Ron looked anxiously at him. “Your scar isn’t hurting is it, mate?”

Harry shook his head and looked at them with wide eyes. “He’s a Death Eater… He’s replaced his father as a Death Eater!”

Ron began to laugh wildly. “Harry… He’s only 16! He’s not even of age yet. Do you really think that You-Know-Who would let him join?”

Hermione bit her lip debating the situation in her head. “It seems very unlikely, Harry. I don’t want to say you’re wrong, but can you tell me what makes you think that? Help me understand.”

Harry gave a look at Ron who was still cackling on his bed before looking into her eyes. “Well when he was getting his robes fitted, he jerked his arm away from her when she tried to roll up his left arm. That’s the arm they keep the Dark Mark on. Also, he showed Borgin something we couldn’t see. I think that it could’ve been the Dark Mark because it really scared the shop keeper. What would scare someone more than the threat of Death Eaters destroying your shop like all the other shops on Diagon Alley.”

The thought of shops getting destroyed and the shop keepers getting kidnapped made Hermione drop her Advanced Ancient Runes book into her trunk with more force than necessary. Her thoughts were clouded by the safety of George before Harry brought her back to the present with asking her. “What do you think, Hermione?”

She shrugged. “I think we just need more evidence…”

Harry shoved his Quidditch robes into the top of his trunk before storming out of the room. The Gryffindor girl sighed in defeat. She hated making Harry feel this way, like he was on his own against the world. She just wasn’t sure there was enough facts to lead them to a final answer.

Ron cleared his throat from his bed and got to his feet. “So… Hermione… nice summer?”

“You’re asking me how my Summer was, Ron? You never ask how I am.” She raised an eyebrow and closed her trunk lid once everything was organized neatly inside.

Ron’s face turned a violent shade of red and he looked to the ground at his scuffed shoes before back up to her eyes. “Well… I guess I am asking now.”

“Well… I spent most of it here.”

“No, you spent it at the joke shop most of the Summer.” He pointed out with a slight frown and shoved books on top of his trunk.

“What’s wrong with that, Ron. I spent it here and at my boyfriend’s apartment. That’s normal.” Hermione crossed her arms and shifted her weight to the other leg.

Ron rubbed the back of his neck and let out a breath. “George’s apartment. Yea. I know. I just wish you would’ve spent more time here.”

“Well…” Hermione shifted her weight again, awkwardly. Ron never spoke like this with her and it was making her feel uncomfortable. This time last year, she would’ve appreciated being wanted by the Gryffindor Prefect. She was a different person now. “I knew that I would see you and Ginny at school. I won’t be able to get to see Fred and George there. I wanted to spend time with them, too.”

Ron seemed to smile a bit at that reasoning. “Sure… sure… Well, I’m excited that things will go back to normal soon.”

She furrowed her eyebrow. “What’s normal?”

He chuckled. “I guess with us, we never know.”

She shook her head. Hermione didn’t have time to try and decipher if he meant we as in the Golden Trio or him and her. She didn’t think she wanted to know the answer either. It wouldn’t make it any easier.

As they got to the platform, Harry motioned them to go to an empty compartment. “Sorry, Harry.” Hermione blushed apologetically. “We have to go to the Prefect’s carriage and then patrol the corridors for a bit…”

“Oh yea. Sorry, I forgot.” Harry shoved his hands into his pockets and nodded sadly.

They left their friend in the empty compartment. Ron sighed. “I hate when we do that.”

“Do what?” Hermione asked staring at him out of the corner of her eye.

“Disappoint him.”

She laughed slightly. “I didn’t know you understood others emotions, Ron.”

“Guess I’m just growing up, ‘Mione.” He gave her a half smile before opening the Prefect compartment door for her. She hesitated before going in and thanking him.

After they arrived at Hogwarts, the Great Hall was lively and filled with students. Hermione was filled with anxiety. “He’s not here yet.” She felt her throat tighten and the threat of frustration tears to spill out of her eyes. Harry always seemed to find danger and it always happened when she wasn’t there to help him through it. He could be anywhere right now.

When the large doors opened, and Harry walked in, she could feel her chest slightly fill with air from relief. That was, before she saw his face. The dark-haired teenage boy forced himself in-between the two Gryffindor’s. “What’ve you done to your face?” Ron demanded as he looked at Harry’s bloody face.

“You’re covered in blood! Come here, let me fix it.” Hermione huffed as she reached into her robes and pulled out her wand. “Tergeo!”

Harry smiled. “Thanks, Hermione. How does my nose look?”

“Normal… why shouldn’t it look normal, Harry? What happened?” Hermione could feel the anxiety now reaching her heart and making it race faster than ever.

Harry shook his head. “I’ll tell you later. Too many ears.” He motioned towards Neville, Dean, Seamus, and Ginny who were leaning in to listen to their conversation from across the Gryffindor table. Hermione gave them a squinty eyed glare before they turned away to act like they weren’t blatantly eavesdropping on the conversation moments before.

Dumbledore cut off their conversation to step up to the podium and announce the changes that were happening this semester. Hermione leaned in, excited to begin the year off on the right foot. He announced that Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes products were banned, which made Hermione giggle, Quidditch teams would be holding tryouts soon and the school needed a new commentator, Professor Slughorn was joining the staff as the potions master, and Snape was going to be the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.

The last bit of information made her friend say loudly, “No!”

Hermione slapped Harry’s shoulder and shushed him. It was too late, heads from other tables turned to look at who was that blatantly obvious about their dislike in Professor Snape taking over Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Once Dumbledore gained all the student’s attention again, the twinkle in his eyes disappeared. “Now, I must talk to you all about a more serious matter. As everybody in this Hall knows, Lord Voldemort and his followers are once more at large and gaining in strength. I cannot emphasize strongly enough how dangerous the present situation is, and how much care each of us at Hogwarts must take to ensure that we remain safe. The castle’s magical fortifications have been strengthened over the summer, we are protected in new and more powerful ways, but we must still guard scrupulously against carelessness on the part of any student or member of the staff. I urge you, to abide by any security restrictions that your teachers might impose upon you, however irksome you might find them. The rules that you are not to be out of bed after hours is imperative that you follow. I trust you to conduct yourselves, always, with the utmost regard for your own and others’ safety.” He smiled once again. “Now, your beds await, as warm and comfortable as you could possibly wish, and I know that your top priority is to be well-rested for your first day of term!”

Hermione jumped up to guide the first-year students to the Gryffindor dormitories. She turned to ask Ron a question and shook her head in disappointment as she saw he had stayed behind with Harry. “Gryffindors’ follow me!” She called out in a clear voice as the eleven-year-old students followed her with wide eyes and excitement.

A small smile filled her face as she remembered how she felt the first night at Hogwarts. How many of these students were muggle born like her and had no idea they were wizards until months prior when they received their letter to this school.


	19. Potions Class

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Professor Slughorn’s eyes danced with glee as he realized how bright one of his students were. This made Hermione beam with pride and she heard Malfoy scoff in the back of the class talking about a teacher’s pet. Finally, the professor walked over to the pearl shimmering potion that smelled of George. “That one is Amortentia. The most powerful love potion in the world.” She sighed thinking of the joke shop and the Summer nights she had spent their wrapped up in his arms while she read.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! I hope that you are all staying safe and healthy during these crazy times. 
> 
> With all my extra time, I've been doing a lot of writing so I hope you enjoy! This book was a lot harder to write about because obviously George and Hermione are not in the same location so I had to get creative. I hope you enjoy.

Chapter Nineteen

Hermione POV

Harry informed the other two about what happened on the train to him with Draco. Hermione bit her lip as she realized that Malfoy had assaulted Harry. She wished she could’ve been there to protect him. “We better get going to the Great Hall. Let’s go. We can talk about it more when there are less people in the common room.” Harry said as his green eyes danced the room suddenly self-conscious of the other Gryffindor’s that were beginning to fill the cozy common room.

Before they made it to the portrait hole, Hermione spotted a lime-green disk that she knew was one of Fred’s inventions from this Summer. “Hey! You!” She grabbed the back of a fourth-years robe. “You know that Fanged Frisbees are banned, hand it over before a professor catches you.”

As the blonde boy walked away, Ron’s freckled face lit up. “I wanted to get one of these when we visited the shop but George wouldn’t give me a discount that git! I’ve always wanted one.”

Hermione wanted to hit Ron but was distracting by Lavender Brown who began to giggle obnoxiously from across the warm common room. The red-head boy gave the girl a flirty wink before darting out of the common room entrance. Hermione had to hold back a gagging sound at the look that the Brown girl gave him in response.

When the three got to the lively Great Hall, there was a buzz from the first day of term. Ron and Harry were talking about how excited this year would be with less classes to worry about. Hermione tuned them out knowing that she would be spending almost all of her time in the calming library, studying for her N.E.W.T classes. The owls came in and interrupted her thoughts of creating a study schedule. A copy of the Daily Prophet and a note that smelled like firework smoke and vanilla dropped in front of her.

She set the copy of the Daily Prophet aside and held up the letter, smelling it slightly and smiling thinking of George. “Mental you are.” Ron joked and shook his head with a laugh on his face.

Hermione rolled her eyes as she tucked her finger into the thick envelope, tearing it open. When the parchment came out, she caught a stronger whiff of vanilla and smoke, she smiled thinking of him working over some new product they were inventing at the joke shop. She was thankful that he had found time during his busy schedule to write to her.

The note read:

_To the brightest and most beautiful witch at Hogwarts,_

_I hope you have a great first day of term! I can’t believe that I won’t be there to see you panic over your full schedule and how you will possibly fit in all of those classes into your studying schedule at the library. Knowing you, you already have a rough outline of what that schedule will look like._

_Everything is okay here. Fred and I are keeping busy with the shop being so popular! We were thinking of buying out the lot that Zonko’s is on if the Diagon Alley location keeps succeeding. Of course, that won’t be for a while… we are still trying to make sure that this location won’t flop! By the looks of our sales, I don’t think we will have to worry about that, but you can never be sure. The protective wards seem to be holding the shop in good shape. We have moved back home so that we do not have to worry about any raids at night. Again, you can never be too safe…_

_Anyways, enough of the heavy. How is Hogwarts going? Tell Ginny, Ron, and Harry that both Fred and I said Hello! I hope you are having a fantastic time. Soak in every moment of it. Who is the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher? Do I know them? It has to be better than Umbridge…_

_Well anyways, I have to go visit with my Mum and Bill. We have a plan to get lunch._

_Please stay safe._

_Sent with love._

_Georgie_

Hermione read over the letter once and then twice again. The twins had moved out of the flat back to the Burrow. She wondered if Ginny and Ron knew of that. How bad had Diagon Alley gotten since she left for Hogwarts? It couldn’t have been that bad in such short amount of time…

It was also clear that he had another Order Meeting that he had to run off to. That had to have been his comment about lunch. Otherwise, he would never have mentioned a day plan with them. A lump formed in her throat as she thought of him putting his life in danger doing a secret task for the Order of Phoenix. It wasn’t that long ago that he had saved her from an attack in the Ministry. It was clear that he was a part of the Order along with Fred. Any death eater who saw him that night would know and there was probably a price on both of their heads.

She shivered at the thought and tucked the letter into her planner and made a note in the pages to write to him tonight before doing her Ancient Runes homework. “George and Fred say Hello.” Hermione added casually but bit her lip.

“Is the shop still standing?” Ron asked with his eyebrows raised in concern. It was not promising when they had visited Diagon Alley and saw all of the other damaged shops.

“At the time of him sending this I suppose. They aren’t staying at the flat anymore… they’re living at the Burrow again.”

Ginny nodded and seemed to mull on that information as she munched on a piece of grapefruit. “It’s all changing.”

Professor McGonagall descended from the staff table and walked to the Gryffindor table. “Potter… why haven’t you continued with Potions? I thought it was your ambition to become an Auror? Has something changed?”

Her friend blushed slightly before he managed to stutter out, “It was, but you told me I had to get an Outstanding in my O.W.L, Professor.” His green eyes shot down to the ground in embarrassment, “I didn’t get that high of a mark.”

“Well… that may have been the rule when Professor Snape had been teaching Potions but now it is Professor Slughorn. He is perfectly happy to accept N.E.W.T. students with Exceeds Expectations at O.W.L. Do you wish to proceed with Potions?” The stern professor smiled just slightly and raised one of her eyebrows, encouraging the Gryffindor seeker to make the right decision and continue on his academic path to achieve his dreams.

Hermione nudged Harry encouragingly. “Yes,” The Chosen One said. “But… I am not prepared. I haven’t gotten any books or ingredients—”

Professor McGonagall held up a hand to cut his worries off. “No need. I am sure that Professor Slughorn will be able to lend you some.” She scribbled Potions into his schedule before handing it to him. “I will let Professor Slughorn know that he is to expect you in class.”

“Thank you, Professor!”

Hermione got up from the table and said goodbye to her friends. They were smiling at the thought of being able to relax in a free period while she was off to Ancient Runes. Just as she expected, she was already slammed with homework on the first day. She was assigned a fifteen-inch essay, two translations, and read an entire chapter of the book they were given. Thankfully, she had already done the readings, so she only had to write the essay and do the translations.

Still, when she walked into the common room Hermione sighed as she sunk into one of the squishy chairs. “6th year will be filled with homework. Look at all I have from the first day of Ancient Runes!” The girl held up her homework planner to Harry who glanced at it with a grimace of empathy.

“I bet Snape gives us an obnoxious amount of work.” He shook his head furiously. “I can’t believe that he is the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. There goes my favorite class. He’s going to ruin it for me.”

They all got up and began to walk to that class as they were guessing how much homework or torture that Snape would put them through. As they entered the classroom, Hermione could not shake how the normal Defense Against the Dark Arts room was usually bright with the large windows but now it was gloomy. He had covered all of the windows and the only light was coming from candles.

“Do not get out your books, yet. I want your full attention.” Professor Snape drawled to the class as he slammed the door shut, silencing the classroom from the pre-class chatter. “You have had five teachers in this subject so far, I believe. Naturally, these teachers will all have had their own method and priorities. Given this confusion I am surprised so many of you scraped an O.W.L. in this subject. I shall be even more surprised if all of you manage to keep up with the N.E.W.T. work, which will be much more advanced. Now… you are, I believe, complete novices in the use of nonverbal spells. What is the advantage of a nonverbal spell?”

Hermione shot her hand in the air with the excitement of knowing an answer. She didn’t let it bother her that Snape tried to wait for another hand before sighing and calling on her when no one else participated. “Your adversary has no warning about what kind of magic you’re about to perform which gives you a split-second advantage.” She dropped her hand and raised her chin with pride that she had the Standard Book of Spells, Grade Six almost memorized by now.

“Correct but it is an answer copied word from word, not your own. Those who progress to using magic without shouting incantations gain an element of surprise in their spellcasting. Not all wizards can do this, of course; it is a question of concentration and mind power which some lack. We will now divide into pairs and work on this skill. One will attempt to jinx the partner without speaking. The other will attempt to repel the jinx in equal silence. Carry on.”

Neville was looking lost and had no one to turn to. Hermione smiled at the kind boy, “Would you want to partner with me, Neville?”

He blushed and glanced his eyes to his shoes. “I’m not sure you would want me as a partner, Hermione. You won’t get much out of the lesson, I’m afraid.”

“I’m sure that is not true. Let’s go!” Hermione got up and they began to work on silently jinxing each other. Well, she was working on silencing jinxing or defending herself while Neville was doing his best to whisper the jinx and make it appear that he was attempting to do nonverbal spells. By the end of the lesson, she had managed to repel Neville’s muttered Jelly-Legs Jinx without uttering a word. She felt her chest glow with pride and knew that this would end up in her letter to George tonight.

After Defense Against the Dark Arts, they headed straight to the dungeons for Potions with the new Professor Slughorn. Hermione sniffed the air and felt her heart tug. It was the smell of firework smoke, vanilla, and parchment paper. Of course, they would be learning about Amortentia, George and Fred got her upstairs to investigate their potion last summer with the promise of it being in the curriculum in the 6th year. She would do anything to smell the real thing of George right now, not an imitation.

Professor Slughorn handed Ron and Harry two extra copies of _Advanced Potion-Making_ that he had extra lying around from past students. Hermione rolled her eyes as the boys fought over the newer of the two, which Ron managed to wrestle above Harry’s head and smiled in victory since he had now grown about half a foot taller than Harry.

“Now that we are all ready for class, I’ve prepared a few potions for us to take a look at. All of these, you will be able to make after completing your N.E.W.T.s. You ought to have heard of them, even if you haven’t made them.” He smiled with a glint of excitement at his new students. “Can anyone tell me what this one is?”

Hermione glanced at the cauldron that he was pointing to which appeared to be a see-through pot of boiling potion. It was odorless which made her hand shoot in the air. When she was called on, she flipped her curly hair over her shoulder. “It’s Veritaserum, sir. A colorless, odorless potion that forces the drinker to tell the truth.”

Slughorn cheered and turned to the next one. The slow-bubbling and mud like potion made Hermione shiver thinking of her second year. It didn’t stop her from shooting her hand in the air and answering that it was Polyjuice potion.

Professor Slughorn’s eyes danced with glee as he realized how bright one of his students were. This made Hermione beam with pride and she heard Malfoy scoff in the back of the class talking about a teacher’s pet. Finally, the professor walked over to the pearl shimmering potion that smelled of George. “That one is Amortentia. The most powerful love potion in the world.” She sighed thinking of the joke shop and the Summer nights she had spent their wrapped up in his arms while she read.

“May I ask your name, my dear?” Professor Slughorn leaned his head to the side with a kind smile on his lips.

“Hermione Granger, sir.”

“Granger? Granger? Can you possibly be related to Hector Dagworth-Granger who founded the Most Extraordinary Society of Potioneers?” His eyes seemed to boggle out of his head as he asked.

Hermione blushed as the Slytherins sniggered about mud-bloods. “Er—I don’t think so. My parents are muggles.”

“You must be the bright witch that young Harry told me about! I do recall you said one of your best friends is muggle-born and she’s the best in your year! I’m assuming this is her, with all the answers.”

Hermione beamed at Harry with a grateful smile before Professor Slughorn began again. “Now… this one here is a rather special one. This one is called Felix Felicis. Also known as liquid luck. It is a very tricky potion to make, and disastrous to get wrong. However, if brewed correctly, you will find that all of your endeavors tend to succeed… at least until the effect of the potion wears off. This small vile, will be the prize of our lesson today. This is enough for twelve-hours of luck and you will earn it if you can turn to page ten in _Advanced Potion-Making_ and make a decent Draught of Living. I must warn you all, it has only been successfully made in my class once or twice before.” He dramatically turned a sand filled time turner and told the class to begin as the white sand granulates cascaded down.

Hermione was desperately trying to get high marks in class. She wasn’t even sure what she would use the prize for, she just wanted to be the best. To her annoyance, the potion was not going well. When it should have been a beautiful lilac color, it was turning into a deep purple. Out of the corner of her eye, Harry’s potion was behaving, and he had managed to turn the potion lilac. “How did you do that?” She hissed at him.

“You have to add a clockwise stir after—”

She closed her eyes sharply. He must’ve been mistaken. “No, no, the book says counterclockwise, Harry.”

Her friend shrugged and continued to stir his potion. Ron was cursing next to them and his potion had turned to an ugly tar looking color. She felt like cursing as well as Slughorn called out “Time’s up!”

Professor Slughorn was looking at the Potions and gave Hermione’s dark purple potion an approving nod before going wide-eyed at Harry’s lilac filled cauldron. “The clear winner!” He handed the vile to Harry. “You are clearly your mother’s child. You have inherited her Potions skill from her!”

Hermione bit her cheek and clapped for her friend, although it was only half-heartedly since she was a sore loser. She left the boys to go reply to George’s letter, and avoid Ron’s comments about Harry beating her in the Potions competition. Hermione took the stairway up to the Owlery two steps at a time.

When she got up there, she pulled out a piece of fresh parchment and began to scribble down a response with her muggle pen.

_To my sweet George,_

_You will never guess who the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor is… Snape! I was so shocked when I found out. It is very glum in that room now; he likes to keep it as dark as the old Potions room I suppose. I got every answer right throughout the day, of course. He didn’t give Gryffindor a single point for all of my participation. Typical._

_Thankfully for you and Fred’s mini Potions lesson last summer, I was able to answer questions about some of the more advanced potions that were introduced this year. Not to my surprise at all, the_ _Amortentia potion still smells like you. It made me miss you even more. Harry for some reason is very good at potions… I’m not sure where that came from. Perhaps, he just enjoys it now that Snape is not teaching it. Ron… still not so good in that class._

_I hope you are enjoying your time at home! Please tell your family members I say hi! How did Lunch go with you Mum and Bill? Anything exciting happen?_

_I must go and work on Ancient Runes homework. I am already slammed with homework and my planner is filled with assignments! Wish I could write longer. I promise next time it will have more information._

_Sent with love._

_Hermione._


	20. Trouble at Hogsmeade

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Don’t you reckon I’d want to be snogging my boyfriend instead of talking about Quidditch? That’s all you two is talk about Quidditch.” Hermione exclaimed in frustration.  
>  “Please don’t talk about snogging one of my brother’s ever again.” Ron looked like he was going to puke which made George roll his brown eyes.  
>  “Grow up, Ron. You just saw someone be cursed and you’re worried about Hermione and I kissing. Real rich. Anyways, we should get back to the castle. I’ll walk you all back to make sure you are safe before going back to Hogsmeade to find the others.” He felt Hermione’s grip tighten on his hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! 
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter of Always and Forever! I hope these chapters aren't too long for anyone. I've seen mixed opinions on fan fics with longer or shorter chapters...
> 
> As always, I don't own the story or the characters.

Chapter Twenty

George POV

The Burrow was alive but with different patterns of life than usual. Instead of children running through the hallways and laughing, it was bustling with Order members discussing plans. Tonks, Lupin, Mad-Eye, Kingsley, his parents, Bill, Fleur, Fred, and Angelina were all squished between the kitchen and the living room, weaving in between conversations where they were needed.

There was talk from Dumbledore that people should go and monitor the Trio when they were on their Hogsmeade trip and at Quidditch matches. George shivered to think of when the Dementors nearly kissed Harry at a match back in Harry’s 3rd year. What would have happened then if the young Gryffindor hadn’t known the Patronus charm from his lesson with Lupin?

Bill and Fred volunteered to go the Quidditch matches. It made sense that the younger Weasley siblings would go to watch Ginny and Ron if they made Gryffindor team this year again. George offered to watch over them at Hogsmeade when Fred chuckled. “You know you would only be watching out for one of them in particular, mate.”

He chucked the cookie in his hand at his twin who dodged out of the way and caught the cookie before popping into his mouth. “Fred is right.” Lupin sighed. He looked like he had aged greatly from Sirius’ death. “You can be in charge of watching Hermione perhaps, but the other two also need to be watched from afar. It would be too obvious for someone to walk with them. We will devise a schedule I suppose.”

Lupin and Mad-Eye pulled out a parchment and wrote down all the dates that needed to be covered and passed it around to the members to write down when they would be available to protect the younger Gryffindors.

George felt his chest lighten a little as he realized that Hermione, although she wouldn’t need it with how bright she was, would be protected. “I’ll write to Hermione and hint at the plans telling her I would visit and suggest Fred comes to.”

Tonks nodded. “That would seem ordinary if it was to be intercepted. I think that’s okay. She is bright. She will figure it out.” The young Order member placed a hand on Molly’s back. “They will be okay, Molly.”

His mother wiped away a tear that was threatening to spill over her freckled cheek and she put a fake smile on her face. “I know… I will just be happy when people don’t have to tell me that anymore.”

Hermione POV

The morning of Gryffindor quidditch tryouts felt strange in the Great Hall. Panic was in the hall as students were afraid their parents were going to pull them from school. The Patil twins’ wanted them to come home immediately and had been sent a howler about the matter which filled the Great Hall with a boom.

After they ate breakfast, they began the walk to the pitch. Lavender Brown gave Ron a big smile as he walked past and called out, “Goodluck today, Ron!”

Her friend blushed over his freckled cheeks and smiled in return to the girl. Hermione noticed that he began to strut like Malfoy which made Hermione roll her brown eyes. The girl climbed into the wooden stands next to Neville and Luna who were holding hands as they sat and waited for the tryouts to begin. Hermione smiled slightly at them. “Beautiful day for tryouts, isn’t it?”

“The nargles aren’t even swarming your head like usual. It is a great day.” Luna smiled brightly but her dreamy, silver eyes didn’t seem to match.

Neville smiled at the blonde Ravenclaw like she was the Sun in his world. Hermione opened up her Ancient Runes book and began to work on a transcription that needed to be done in a few days. The tryouts were surely going to last a long time, it appeared that half of Gryffindor showed up, and even some people who weren’t in our house.

Harry screamed out of frustration and got everyone who wasn’t in Gryffindor to leave immediately. About 15 people left the pitch, all girls, and all giggling.

Hermione seemed to watch the Beaters with more awareness. She was noticing that they were not nearly as brilliant or agile on the broomsticks as George and Fred were. The twins would be disappointed with wizards in the air but they would have to do.

When it was time for the Keepers to tryout, Cormac McLaggen was doing far too good. To make matters worse, he kept looking over at her and winking at Hermione whenever he blocked a pass. Hermione remembered the lesson about non-verbal magic that they learned in Defense Against the Dark Arts and sent him flying in the wrong direction on his last save.

No one seemed to notice except for Neville since he had worked with her during the Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson and knew she was capable of producing a jinx. “George must be rubbing off on you if you are messing with a school event.” He whispered to his friend with a playful smile.

Luna smiled dreamily. “How kind of you to think of Ron.”

Hermione blushed. “He needs something to distract him from school is all. He has to make the team.”

As Ron mounted his Cleansweep Eleven, Lavendar Brown stood up and bounced excitedly. “Good luck, Ron!”

Thankfully, Ron had saved all five of the penalty shots in a row. Hermione cheered before noticing that McLaggen was storming up to Harry with a bright red face and shouting at him. Hermione rushed down to the grassy pitch and caught the end of the loud conversation as Harry was explaining to the angry Gryffindor, “You’ve had your go. You saved four. Ron saved five. Ron won fair in square. Ginny wouldn’t go easy on him. I think it’s best you leave.”

After McLaggen stormed off, Harry went over practice schedules with the other Gryffindors before saying goodbye. Ron walked up to stand next to Harry, Hermione, and Ginny and laughed “Did you see McLaggen when he went into the completely wrong direction? Looked like he’s been Confunded…”

Hermione went bright red and bit her lip. Of course, the one-time Ron notices something, it would be her trying to help him. Harry noticed this exchange and raised his eyebrows at her before she shook her head. She didn’t want to dim this moment for Ron.

When they got to the Great Hall, Hermione ached for a hot cup of green tea. As she was pouring herself a cup, an owl dropped a letter that smelled like vanilla. She ripped open the seal and read through it to decipher any hidden messages from George. She tapped Harry’s arm. “I think the Order is watching over you again. I knew George would be visiting me but look he says that Bill is so excited to watch Ron play Quidditch and that Fred and Angelina want to go to Hogsmeade to price check Zonko’s. They told me they weren’t ready to buy a location at Hogsmeade for a couple years.”

“I bet Dumbledore is telling them when all the matches and trips will be. I wonder who will be there.” Harry thought as he bit into a fork full of mashed potatoes with brown gravy. His green eyes were clouded over with thoughts and concern.

“They’ll have to be discreet whoever it is. George won’t be as obvious to be watching over me if we walk down Hogsmeade but it’s not like Mad-Eye or Lupin could walk down the shops with you two.” Hermione bit at her bottom lip like she always did when she began to worry.

Ron glanced at the letter. “I hope Bill does come to my match! No one ever comes to watch me play.”

After that, the days seemed to go by slowly for the next Hogsmeade trip because Hermione knew that would mean she could see George. When the day finally came, she was nearly bouncing up and down as she was waiting for Filch to take her permission slip. “Honestly, Hermione. Calm down.” Ron looked at her. “People are going to think you’ve gone mental! I’m starting to think that. It’s only George you’re seeing. He’s not special.”

She rolled her brown eyes at the boy. “Whatever, Ronald. You wouldn’t understand.”

He grew red in the face. “I’ll have you know; I would understand.”

When they got to Hogsmeade, they met up with George at the Three Broomsticks. He whispered silently to them that Tonks was going to be tailing Ron and Harry to make sure they stay out of trouble. As he leaned in to tell them, Hermione closed her eyes and smelled the fireworks and vanilla roll off of him in a comforting manner.

He was finally in front of her.

Her George in the present.

George POV

Sitting next to Hermione felt like a dream. He knew that the time they would have together today would be far too short for his liking, but that didn’t stop from him holding her hand or having his arm wrapped around her the entire time, as if holding her would keep her next to him longer.

He listened intently as Harry and Ron discussed Quidditch tryouts and filled him in on everything going on at Hogwarts. He jokingly chided at Hermione for taking away joke shop products from students. “That just looks bad for business! My own girlfriend, nicking products from paying customers.” George shook his head jokingly and took a drag from his butterbeer.

“It’s not my fault that they are banned! I’m just a prefect doing her job.” She sniffed and held her head up high showing that she had no regrets on enforcing the rule.

Once they all finished their drinks, Ron’s stomach growled. “Could we get some candy?”

Harry laughed. “You’re always worried about getting to Honeydukes. Of course, we can go there.”

They stood up together and George checked his surroundings for any death eaters or anyone looking suspicious. When he looked down, he saw that Hermione was staring at him with concern in her warm brown eyes. “Coast is clear, love. No need to worry.” He rubbed her arms and smiled down at her. “Let’s go before Ron eats all of the shops candy!”

When they were walking towards the store, they were following behind Katie Bell and a Hufflepuff girl that she was friends with. The other girl tried to smack a package out of Katie Bell’s hand which made the skilled Chaser lunge for it so it wouldn’t fall to the ground.

George sucked in air as he realized that his old teammate was being yanked into the air with her arms outstretched by some curse. Her hair whipped dangerously around her face and her eyes were glassed over. He turned around and cast a patronus to call for Tonks and Fred who were waiting for any back up that would be needed.

Hermione gripped his other hand. “Don’t go.”

“I’m not, I promise.” He reassured her.

George cast a spell to bring her closer to the ground since now she was screaming in the air and levitating well over 8 feet in the air. As she was being lowered, Harry and Ron grabbed a hold of her arms and legs to pull her down to the ground. It took the work of all three guys to bring Katie to the ground.

Once she was on the ground, she began to thrash and scream loudly. Tonks reached them first and looked at the young Gryffindor chaser. “She’s been cursed.” The Order member turned to the others. “No one, touch that object!”

Tonks raised her wand and levitated the girl and the object and began to walk quickly to the castle. “I will take her to the medical wing and inform Dumbledore immediately what has happened. You know what to do.” She nodded once at George. _Protect Harry and the others._ He heard the warning multiple times in the Order meeting. This is what they feared the most. There would be some type of dark magic happen in the presence of the three.

He wrapped his arm around Hermione’s waist and pulled her to his side tightly and looked around for any sign of danger. George turned his attention to the shaken up Hufflepuff girl that was walking with Katie. “How did Katie get a hold of this? It is filled with dark magic.”

The Hufflepuff girl began to cry. “Leanne, it’s okay.” Hermione said quietly which seemed to give the other girl enough courage to speak.

“That’s why I tried taking it from her. She came out of the bathroom in the Three Broomsticks with it and she said it was a surprise for someone at Hogwarts. She looked all funny and… oh no…” fear washed over the blonde girl the same time that an icy feeling went through George’s bones. “Imperious curse. She wouldn’t tell me who gave it to her!”

George nodded once. “It’ll be alright. Dumbledore will get to the bottom of this. He always does.” He looked to his twin who was running up to meet up with them. “You need to make sure that Ginny is safe. Katie Bell was put under the imperious curse, I will explain more later.”

Fred nodded once before running off again to find their sister. Ron looked between his brothers and began to turn pink. “You don’t seem to worry about me.”

Hermione punched her friend’s arm. “He’s here right now, isn’t he? Also, we spent our time with you lot instead of going off on our own, didn’t we?”

His brother blushed. “I suppose you did.”

“Don’t you reckon I’d want to be snogging my boyfriend instead of talking about Quidditch? That’s all you two is talk about Quidditch.” Hermione exclaimed in frustration.

“Please don’t talk about snogging one of my brother’s ever again.” Ron looked like he was going to puke which made George roll his brown eyes.

“Grow up, Ron. You just saw someone be cursed and you’re worried about Hermione and I kissing. Real rich. Anyways, we should get back to the castle. I’ll walk you all back to make sure you are safe before going back to Hogsmeade to find the others.” He felt Hermione’s grip tighten on his hand.

When he looked down into her eyes, he was shocked with how sad they were. “I thought we had more time…”

He lifted her chin slightly as the others began to walk back to the castle without them. “I know, love… it’s okay. I have to do my job in this war you know.” George smiled down at the girl and placed a long and passionate kiss on her warm lips. “I’ll make it up to you somehow, I promise.”

She smiled softly and held out her hand. “Muggle pinky promise?”

George kissed the tip of her nose. “Yes… I muggle pinky promise.” He wrapped his large pinky finger around her dainty one, already thinking of ways he could make it up to his Hermione.


	21. A Thing for Red-Heads...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione smiled at the dazed look Harry had when she touched him. “Ginny?”  
>  “What about her?” Harry asked as he peeled his green eyes away from the youngest Weasley.  
>  She chuckled. “I think I’m not the only one who has a thing for red-heads is all.” Hermione wiggled her eyebrow as Harry opened his mouth to argue her before closing it and smiling slightly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone!
> 
> I hope you enjoy and as always, I do not own the characters or the story. I just really love Harry Potter and want to share what I think would be a good pairing.

Chapter Twenty-One

Hermione POV

Some time had passed between the Katie Bell incident and now. As her group of friends walked to Herbology class, Harry was informing them on everything that Dumbledore was teaching him about during the private lessons that were keeping him from Slughorn’s parties. Hermione was amazed at how wise Dumbledore was. She exclaimed “I think it’s fascinating. It makes sense, don’t you think?”

Harry nodded in agreement with the girl. “Anyways, how was Slughorn’s latest party?”

“Actually… it was fun! He introduced us to some new and exciting foods and a player from the Holyhead Harpies, I don’t know if you know of Gwenog Jones—”

“Wait a minute!” Ron stopped her from putting on her protective goggles to stare into her eyes. “I know you don’t know Quidditch so I’m making sure you know for sure. The Captain of the Holyhead Harpies. The one and only Gwenog Jones?” His blue eyes looked like they were going to pop out of his head.

“That’s the one!” Hermione said before ripping the large goggles out of his hands to put on her face.

Professor Sprout impatiently snapped at the talking Gryffindors. “Quiet back there, class has begun!” She gave them directions to untangle the branches of the pulsating pods to squeeze them out when they are fresh into a bowl.

Once they began to work on the task, Hermione continued. “Anyway, Slughorn’s going to have a Christmas Party, Harry, and there’s no way you’ll be able to wiggle out of this one because he actually asked me to check your free evenings, so he could be sure you would be able to go.”

Her friend groaned and threw his head back dramatically. Ron groaned as well. “This is only for Slughorn’s favorites I’m assuming?”

Hermione shrugged sheepishly since she knew that Ron was jealous and wished he was able to attend one of these parties. “Just for the Slug Club, yes. Sorry.”

The red headed teenager began to grumble under his breath about his friends abandoning him for a dumb Christmas party. After Herbology class, the two boys went to Quidditch practice which left Hermione on her own again. Hermione was cold and wanted to warm up in front of a nice fire. The Gryffindor common room would have to do for studying. She curled her legs up into her body on one of the comfortable sofa’s that were in the Gryffindor common room and pulled out a fresh piece of parchment to write a letter to George before doing her homework that was piling up on the coffee table in front of her.

_My dearest George,_

_I was so thankful to be able to see you at Hogsmeade. I cannot believe what still happened. It really is a dangerous time at Hogwarts… So many students are being pulled from school and going back home by their parents. Thankfully my parents have no idea what is going on in the Wizarding world. I’m surprised your mother is allowing Ron and Ginny to continue classes… I’m thankful she is. I would miss them terribly. It wouldn’t be Hogwarts without a Weasley here!_

_How is your family doing back home? I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy. My thoughts are always with you. I hope to see you soon! Tell them all I say hello._

_I wish again I could write more but my N.E.W.T. classes are all giving us so much homework that I seem to be swamped every moment of the day! I don’t know how Ron and Harry are juggling classes and Quidditch. Then again, they don’t have the same expectations that I do with academics (or someone to copy answers from)._

_Anyways, I hope you are doing well. I love you so much and miss you more and more with every passing day. I cannot wait to see you again._

_XOXO_

_Your Hermione_

George POV

After the last customer had purchased a Skiving Snackbox and left, George and Fred began to put the protective charms on the shop. Looking out at the once lively Diagon Alley made him shudder thinking of what the world was coming to. All of the shops were boarded up or had broken windows at the store front. It seemed like the joke shop was the only remaining shop. Soon, the twins knew they would have to close up and resort to only doing mail orders if things continued to worsen.

They apparated to the Burrow as soon as the last spell was cast, and they knew the shop would remain safe throughout the dark night. Once they made it to safety, their mother cheered and gave them both a huge hug. She hated that they were continuing to be open. They resorted to taking down the posters that openly mocked Voldemort which made her ease up slightly.

“We are having roast beef and carrots for dinner. I hope you are hungry.” She smiled and rubbed her hands on the faded orange apron that clung to her front.

“Sounds great, mum!” Fred beamed and kissed her cheek quickly before bounding into the door to sit at the crowded, wooden dining table.

“You’re doing great, mum.” George smiled down at her and gave her a quick hug before following his twins move and sitting next to him.

Tonks and Lupin were at the dining table next to their father. Bill and Fleur were carrying the food over to the large wooden table with tense faces. “We need to figure out who is to go to the Quidditch match and watch over Harry. We have three to worry about that will be in the air playing and of course Hermione in the stands.” Lupin said with a tense face that made him look like he was much older than he actually was.

“I can go. It will look as if Fleur and I were visiting Ron and Ginny to watch them compete.” Bill offered as he passed around the bowl of steaming carrots.

“It would make sense for me to keep in touch with Harry as well because we competed together.” Fleur piped up with her improved English. “I have kept in contact with Krum. It wouldn’t alarm any followers.”

“I’d like to go.” George added.

Tonks shook her head. “I don’t think anyone who went to Hogsmeade should go to the match. We don’t want to create a pattern.”

He was about to argue when Lupin nodded in agreement with Tonks. “We know you want to watch over Hermione, George. She will be watched just as carefully as the others. You have to trust the other Order members.”

Fear filled his chest in allowing others to protect his Hermione. What would happen if there was action in the air? It would allow her to be an open target when the other two get distracted. He didn’t like it. George bit his lip until he tasted blood to stop him from lashing out and telling them what he truly thought… _no one could protect Hermione as well as he could_.

His father spoke up from the head of the table. “Dumbledore, Snape, and McGonnagal will also be there of course watching. She will be safe, son.”

George had to work on slowing his breathing down. He hadn’t realized it, but he was gripping the wooden table and his knuckles were turning white from the force. Fred squeezed his shoulder in a comforting manner. He nodded. He knew that the best thing to do was leave it to the older Order members to decide the plans. As long as he would be able to continue to see her on Hogsmeade trips, that would matter the most.

It would be okay.

He had to keep repeating that lie to himself. Maybe he would believe it if he said it enough times in his head. It would be okay…

Hermione POV

The morning before the first Quidditch match was always filled with nerves and excitement from the entire school. Ron looked like he was going to be ill. “How are you both feeling?” Hermione asked her friends who sat across from her at the Gryffindor table.

“Fine.” Harry said as he concentrated on dumping something into a glass of pumpkin juice. Her dark-haired friend smirked and handed the glass over to Ron. “Drink up, Ron.”

Hermione put her hand on top of the glass. “Don’t drink that!”

“Are you mental?” Ron asked her with his eyebrows close to his hairline.

“You just put something into his drink.” She narrowed her brown eyes and stared daggers into Harry’s green eyes that were wide with fake innocence. “Didn’t you?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Hermione.” Harry blushed and put the vile that he earned in Potions back into his pocket quickly, but not quick enough to go unnoticed.

Hermione turned her attention to her red-head friend and pleaded with him. “Ron, I warn you, don’t drink it! It’s against the rules to use that for Sporting events at Hogwarts—”

Before Hermione could even finish her sentence, Ron was downing the pumpkin juice in three long gulps. She closed her eyes in frustration and got up from the breakfast table. “I can’t believe you. A prefect taking Felix Felicis for a Quidditch math.” She stormed to the pitch to go and find a seat near another Gryffindor.

When she got there, she saw Neville, Luna, Seamus, and Dean all sitting down wearing scarlet and gold. Luna Lovegood was wearing a large lion hat that made her look even more odd than usual, but it was rather fitting for her to show support in such a grand way. “Great day for Quidditch, Hermione!” Dean smiled at her kindly. “How was Ron and Harry feeling?”

She huffed as she sank onto the wooden bench next to them. Hermione shook her head and muttered darkly, “Much better now.”

The others seemed confused why she was feeling frustrated that her friends were doing okay before the match. She couldn’t just say, _Ron feels much better because he took an illegal potion that would get him expelled._ Hermione just ignored their confused look and the group looked back to the pitch since the match was about to begin.

Once the teams entered the pitch, there were loud cheers from all of the houses in the stands, making the pitch sound like it was an amphitheater. Madam Hooch was the referee for this match. She made the captains shake hands and Hermione saw Harry shake the Slytherin Captains hand. Once the whistle sounded, all of the players kicked off the grassy pitch and soared high into the sky to begin the game.

Zacharias Smith took over Lee Jordan’s commentary and it was clear that he did not like Harry and Ron as he talked about how Ron didn’t perform very well last year. As if to prove the announcer wrong, Ron stopped the first Quaffle from going through the large hoops which made the people supporting Gryffindor in the stands go wild. Hermione couldn’t help herself from jumping up and clapping for her friend.

Gryffindor was leading sixty points to zero when Zacharias shouted, “It seems as if Harper from Slytherin has seen the snitch!”

Harry’s head whipped around on his broom and he went accelerating towards the other seeker. Hermione could tell that when the two players got close enough Harry had shouted something to Harper that made him fumble the snitch and Harry made a swipe for it, catching the golden Snitch into his hand like he has in so many matches before.

“What’s Ginny doing?” Neville pointed out as everyone else was distracted at Harry catching the snitch.

The youngest Weasley was going full speed straight to the announcer’s box and slammed into it making Zacharias Smith fall over. The red-head girl laughed as Smith got up and looked dazed. “Best not to mess with the Weasleys’” Dean laughed and shook his head at his wild and mischievous girlfriend.

Later on, in the Gryffindor common room, everyone was celebrating the big win. Hermione felt torn. She was happy for her friends but still incredibly disappointed in Harry and Ron. When she saw Harry standing in a corner by himself, drinking a butterbeer, she took the opportunity to approach him. “You shouldn’t have done that this morning, Harry. You heard Slughorn. It’s illegal and you still decided to—”

“I didn’t.” He smiled as he stared at Ron standing on a coffee table while everyone chanted Weasley is our King.

“What?” Hermione raised her eyebrows. “Harry you don’t think I’m that dumb, do you? I saw you dump the potion into Ron’s drink.”

Harry dug into his pocket and pulled out a full vile. “I didn’t though.”

“It was all in his head…” Hermione shook her head and smiled. “Well… I’m glad you didn’t actually do it. I was worried you had a serious lack in judgement.”

The crowd roared to life as Lavender Brown jumped up on the wooden coffee table and began to snog Ron in front of the packed common room. Hermione rolled her eyes at her enthusiastic friend. Hopefully she didn’t look like that when her and George snogged. “Look at him, the filthy hypocrite.” Ginny walked up to the two with her Pygmy Puff on her shoulder. “He really complains all the time about public displays of affection but when it’s him… it’s fine.” She rolled her eyes before turning to Harry and smiling. “Great game, Harry. You’re a great captain so far. Keep it up.” She tapped his arm with her tanned hand before walking away.

Hermione smiled at the dazed look Harry had when she touched him. “Ginny?”

“What about her?” Harry asked as he peeled his green eyes away from the youngest Weasley.

She chuckled. “I think I’m not the only one who has a thing for red-heads is all.” Hermione wiggled her eyebrow as Harry opened his mouth to argue her before closing it and smiling slightly.


	22. Attack on Diagon Alley

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It finally happened.  
> As the twins were setting up the protective guards, two dark cloaked figures came up to the shop and waltzed in. “We are closed.” Fred grunted at them with his hands wrapped tightly around his wand.  
> George steadied his stance and eyed them down trying to see if he recognized either of them. The one cloaked figure walked up to one of the shelves and acted as if he was interested in the Pygmy Puff. “You see… we don’t care that it’s closed. We came here to get a bounty on your heads… We have suspicion to belief that you are a way that we can get some answers—”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to wrap Fred and George Weasley up into a bubble and protect them from the world!
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter of Always and Forever and of course I do not own the characters or the story. Enjoy!!

Chapter Twenty-Two

Hermione POV

Homework was filling up almost every second of Hermione’s day. She was grateful for evenings in the quite library with Harry. She wished that Ron would study more but he was a bit preoccupied with his new relationship with Lavender, which quickly began and accelerated after their kiss in the common room. Hermione didn’t think it was appropriate for her to chide him about his study habits whenever he was with Lavender.

Today, she did need to warn her friend about a conversation she overheard that pertained his safety. “You need to be careful. I went into the girls’ bathroom just before I came in here and there were about a dozen girls in there, including that Romilda Vane, trying to decide how to slip you a love potion. They all want you to ask them to go to Slughorn’s Christmas party. I helped Fred and George work on that love potion so I know for a fact they will work.”

“You’re a prefect, why didn’t you take them away?”

“They didn’t have them on them otherwise I would have. They were just planning. You are really popular among the ladies because you’re the _Chosen One_.” She said the last part with her hands in the air acting like it was a big deal.

“But I am the Chosen One.” Harry smiled and glanced up as Romilda gave him a wave.

Hermione took his beat-up copy of Advanced Potions off of the oak table and smacked him against the head. “Knock that off.”

“Right… sorry. I deserved that. Well anyways, I’m not going to invite anyone to the Slug Club party.” Harry went back to working on writing his essay.

“Well, still, just be careful on what you drink.” She thought grimly of all the different ways the girls were coming up with. “Some of the girls were coming up with really sneaky ideas before they realized I was in the bathroom.”

“How is Romilda even having access to one of their products? I thought Filch had banned all of them?” Harry raised an eyebrow.

Hermione blushed. “George came up with a brilliant way to disguise them of course. It’s making my life more difficult as a Prefect of course. They’re disguising them as perfumes and cough potions in their Owl Order service.”

He laughed. “I just still find it funny that you ended up with one of the twins.”

She frowned. “Is it really that weird? George and I?” Hermione did not talk about her relationship very often with others, but she saw Harry as a brother she never had. His opinion meant a lot to her.

The messy-haired teen shook his head. “No… no… It’s not like that. I think it’s funny that your own boyfriend is driving you mad with enforcing rules even when he’s not at Hogwarts anymore.”

She smiled softly and thought about how secretly it made her think of George every time she had to confiscate a Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes product and how she wished they would never stop selling them to students.

The librarian appeared suddenly and informed them that the library was closed. The two returned to the Gryffindor common room with their halfway completed work. Romilda Vane was next to the portrait opening and she jumped up when she saw the Gryffindor seeker. “Harry! Would you fancy a gilly water?”

“No thanks!” Harry said quickly, he looked at the water as if it would explode in the girl’s hand.

Hermione gave him a knowing look. Romilda looked defeated temporarily before smiling at him. “Well… here take some Chocolate Cauldrons, they’ve got fire whisky in them. My gran sent them to me, but I don’t like them.”

Harry took the Cauldrons into his hand and smiled awkwardly as a blush spread up from his neck to his cheeks. “Oh… thanks…” He hurried behind Hermione as she stepped over to the corner of the room.

“I told you so. Sooner you ask someone, sooner they’ll leave you alone!”

The next day it seemed that Harry had taken her advice. “I asked Luna Lovegood to go with me as friends to Slughorns party.”

Ron looked like he was in disbelief and forgot to continue eating the pasta that was on his plate. “Honestly… you could have taken any girl at the school and you decided to take Looney Lovegood?”

Ginny snapped at her brother and stuffed a piece of bread down the front of his knit jumper. “Don’t call her that! I think it’s nice that Harry asked her. She’s rather excited. No one ever asks her to anything.”

Hermione noticed that Harry’s face lightened as Ginny praised his decision. He was so obvious into her that it was a good thing that Ron was so thick. He would never notice and have time to get upset. “You and Luna will have to save me from McLaggen. He keeps trying to say he’s going to be glued to me at the party despite me telling him that I have a boyfriend that I am very much happy with.”

Hermione and Harry checked the time and said goodbye to Ron as they had to begin getting ready for the party. Lavender took his opportunity to swoop in and sit where Harry was next to Ron. He didn’t seem to mind finally that they were going to the party without him. Hermione was glad for Lavender to provide that distraction so Ron wouldn’t get upset with them.

When Luna, Hermione, and Harry walked through the opening of the party, Slughorn called out for Harry only. “Harry, my boy! Come in, come in, so many people I would like you to meet!”

Hermione and Luna walked over to one of the crowded drink trays to grab a bubbly, yellow drink that smelled like chamomile and sunshine. “McLaggen is walking this way with a rather odd look on his face. I don’t think he’s very nice, do you?”

The Gryffindor girl turned around to see him waltzing over to the girls. “No, I don’t think he’s very nice at all. Luna… I’m not trying to ditch you, but I can’t be around him. He’s trying to make passes at me when I’ve told him I’m dating George.”

“George Weasley… what an interesting person. Kind but also very troublesome—”

Hermione didn’t wait to hear the rest of Luna’s assessment on her boyfriend. She darted behind a waiter and hid behind a curtain to confuse him on where she was. McLaggen seemed to ask Luna a question. In response, the Ravenclaw girl cocked her head to the side and began to whack at the air around his head. McLaggen looked at her in a very disturbed way before he walked away in the opposite direction.

Hermione snuck out of her hiding spot when Harry met back with Luna. “Harry thank goodness! I had to hide from Cormac McLaggen.”

“His head is terribly filled with Nargles.” Luna shuddered slightly before regaining her dreamy composure. As they were walking, they ended up next to the opening of the room. Soon, Filch came storming through the door, clutching Draco Malfoy’s dark robes. “Professor Slughorn!” Filch called out into the party. “I discovered this young man lurking in an upstairs corridor. He claims to be coming to this party.”

“All right, I wasn’t invited! I was party crashing, happy?” Malfoy sneered at Filch.

Snape stepped forward from the shadows of the party. “I’d like a word with, Mr. Malfoy. I can take his punishment from here, Argus.” The head of Slytherin looked at Draco with slight anger in his normally masked expression.

Before Hermione could stop Harry, he slipped after the two Slytherin’s making a lame excuse to have to go to the restroom. Luna looked at the other girl. “You are terribly worried about your friend. I can tell by your aura”

“Yes. He’s always finding danger every turn he goes.” Hermione was shocked with the honesty that was coming out of her mouth to the Ravenclaw girl.

Luna nodded in an understanding manner. “I seemed to notice that in D.A. Especially when we were in the Hall of Prophecies.”

Hermione closed her eyes and hoped that her friend wasn’t getting too caught up in his idea that Draco was a death eater. He had been obsessing over Katie Bell and insisting that Draco was the one who cursed her. Hopefully, him listening in on Snape and Draco would prove that this was not the case. She could only hope…

George POV

It finally happened.

As the twins were setting up the protective guards, two dark cloaked figures came up to the shop and waltzed in. “We are closed.” Fred grunted at them with his hands wrapped tightly around his wand.

George steadied his stance and eyed them down trying to see if he recognized either of them. The one cloaked figure walked up to one of the shelves and acted as if he was interested in the Pygmy Puff. “You see… we don’t care that it’s closed. We came here to get a bounty on your heads… We have suspicion to belief that you are a way that we can get some answers—”

Before he could finish the twins began to shoot curses at the two men. Shelves and products were getting damaged left and right. George didn’t even have time to think of all the money that was being lost. He was too concerned with getting out of the shop safely with his twin. George knocked out the first one. He flew back into a shelf of bubbling love potions, now stunned from the effects of the potion that was washing around him and the spell blast that hit him in the chest.

The other death eater cursed out his partners name and ran to him before disapparating out of the shop. “That was too close.” Fred sighed with exhaustion from the work. “We have to close the shop.”

George nodded in agreement. “Hurry let’s put up the rest of the wards and then go home. We will bring home all the product we can and continue to do mail orders, but we can’t keep coming here. It’s too dangerous.”

Fred nodded in agreement and the two worked in anxious silence for a couple hours before going to the Burrow. “Where have you two been?” Their parents ran up to them and gave them big hugs. “The clock hands were pointed to danger! Explain what happened, immediately.” Tears were flowing down their mother’s face and she looked much older.

“Death eaters.” Fred said grimly.

“We are closing down the shop and doing mail orders only.” George added.

“They entered the shop?” Arthur Weasley asked with pain on his face. He looked at Fred, then at George and let out a breath he was holding. “I’m glad you boys are okay.” He clasped a hand on both of the twins’ shoulders.

“It’s a good thing we have each other.” Fred said with a fierce look on his face.

“I have to go write to Hermione. Tell her we closed down the shop.” George said. “I won’t tell her all the details, but I need to let her know something is wrong.”

He stormed past the now cold food that was sitting on the kitchen table waiting for them. George took the stairs three at a time to get to his and Fred’s room. He yanked the wooden chair back from the old desk and sank into it.

_Hermione,_

_It finally happened. We had to close the shop._

_Fred and I are fine._

_Diagon Alley is now all closed down._

_I hope Hogwarts is more peaceful than here right now. I want you to promise me that you are staying safe and I will make the same promise to you in return. I love you, Hermione and I don’t want anything happening to you._

_Please stay with us over Christmas. I want to make sure that you are protected and the only way I can do that is if you are near me. I’m sure Harry, Ron, and Gin will appreciate having you around too._

_Sent with concern and love._

_Yours,_

_George_


	23. Christmas at the Burrow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione nodded and gave George a quick kiss. “I love you. I just don’t want to see you getting hurt.”  
> “Don’t worry about me, love. I can handle myself. I want you to work on staying safe and on your studies.” He kissed the top of her curls before pulling her up on her feet. “Let’s go downstairs and join the others.”  
> Fred popped into the room with his hands over his eyes. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything…”  
> Hermione giggled and it filled George with warmth. “Stop being so ridiculous, Fred. We were just going downstairs.”  
> Fred frowned. “Well that’s disappointing. We should really work on some type of code word in case you all need the room for activities.” He winked as Hermione threw a pillow at him.  
> “In your childhood bedroom? Don’t be ridiculous.”  
> “There are silencing charms you know.” Fred wiggled his eyebrows as Hermione blushed a dangerous shade of red. “Only joking, Hermione.” His twin winked at George as they all walked out of the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would give my life to spend Christmas at the Burrow!
> 
> I hope you all enjoy this story, and as always, I do not own the characters or the story.

Chapter Twenty-Three

George POV

Christmas break at Hogwarts couldn’t come any sooner. He was so anxious to see and hold Hermione in his hands to make sure she was okay. When she got off of the Hogwarts Express, he yanked her into a fierce hug that made her beat-up sneakers come off of the ground when she was lifted into the air. Hermione didn’t protest and instead planted a kiss on his warm lips. The electricity between them made the two forget that they were on a crowded platform and not in private. “Mate… we should get a move on.” Fred chuckled from behind his twin. “Not that I don’t fancy seeing you both so smitten, but maybe it’ll be safer elsewhere.” He winked and dodged a swat that Hermione sent his way.

The Order members escorted the Hogwarts students safely to the Burrow. Hermione and George refused to be apart and everyone was thankfully respecting that. It had been so long since the Hogsmeade trip. George was waiting for them to be in private to tell her about the full attack at the shop and he could tell she was anxiously waiting for him to discuss it since his note had to be so vague and short.

When they made it to the Burrow, George and Hermione brought her bags up to Ginny’s room before going to talk in the twins’ room. “What happened?” She finally asked him when the door clicked shut behind them.

George sank down onto his twin-size bed with a sigh. He knew that Hermione would want the facts and get straight to the point. “Two death eaters entered the shop and attacked Fred and I. We are now in hiding here because of it. They are after us because they think we can give them answers. There’s a bounty on our head apparently.”

“So… because of me.” Hermione sank into the bed next to him and put her head on his shoulder. “It’s probably because you were at Hogsmeade with me… I’m so sorry, George.”

“They know that we are a part of the Order because of the night we came to rescue all of you at the Ministry. It’s not your fault, love.” He lifted her chin up so that she had to look into his eyes. “Please do not take this on yourself. It’s not your fault at all. We knew the risk that came with being in the Order and we welcomed it with open arms. Weasley’s fight for what is right, no matter what the cost.”

Hermione nodded and gave George a quick kiss. “I love you. I just don’t want to see you getting hurt.”

“Don’t worry about me, love. I can handle myself. I want you to work on staying safe and on your studies.” He kissed the top of her curls before pulling her up on her feet. “Let’s go downstairs and join the others.”

Fred popped into the room with his hands over his eyes. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything…”

Hermione giggled and it filled George with warmth. “Stop being so ridiculous, Fred. We were just going downstairs.”

Fred frowned. “Well that’s disappointing. We should really work on some type of code word in case you all need the room for _activities_.” He winked as Hermione threw a pillow at him.

“In your childhood bedroom? Don’t be ridiculous.”

“There are silencing charms you know.” Fred wiggled his eyebrows as Hermione blushed a dangerous shade of red. “Only joking, Hermione.” His twin winked at George as they all walked out of the room.

When they made it to the kitchen, they heard Ron talking to Harry as they completed the chores that their mother had given them for the day. “I don’t think Fred’s buttock every recovered—”

“Why are we talking about my ass?” Fred asked as he sank into a wooden chair in front of Harry and Ron.

“Ron was telling me about Unforgivable Curses and how you and George tried getting Ron to do one.” Harry smirked at Fred’s comment as he continued to cut the sprouts for their mother.

“Ahh, Fred look at this. They’re using knives and everything. Bless their soul.” George chuckled.

“I’ll be seventeen in two months then I’ll be able to do it by magic!” Ron huffed before looking at the three. “One of you could help all of you are of age.”

Fred smiled and put his feet up on that table, “Whoops-a-daisy!”

The knife sliced Ron’s hand slightly as the table jerked from the movement. “You just wait until I’m of age!”

“I’m sure you will dazzle us all with your unsuspected magical skills.” Fred yawned and waved his wand, mending his brothers cut just as quickly as it appeared.

“Speaking of unsuspected skills, Ronald… what’s this information from Ginny about you and Lavender Brown?” George wiggled his eyebrows.

Ron turned the same shade as his hair. “I don’t feel like talking about it. You all should just mind your own business.”

Mrs. Weasley walked in which made all the talk of Lavender to cease, she didn’t know about the relationship and no one wanted to be the one to break the news that Ron has finally got a girlfriend. “Okay… Bill, Fleur, and Charlie will be arriving tomorrow. Lupin will be staying as well in Percy’s room. Fleur is going to stay with you and Ginny, dear.” She said turning to Hermione who nodded.

“That’ll be interesting. Ginny, Hermione, and Fleur in one room?” Fred laughed at the thought. “I wonder who will come out champion of a fight when they all explode. My bets are on Ginny, no offense, Hermione. You got the smarts, but Ginny has the rage.”

Hermione rolled her eyes at Fred before turning to Mrs. Weasley. “I don’t think it will be an issue. Don’t worry about it, Mrs. Weasley.” She assured their mother who was looking worried at Fred’s comment.

“No Percy?” George asked in a tone that seemed he wasn’t surprised as his finger nails scraped against the wooden table.

“No… he’s busy, I expect, at the Ministry.” Mrs. Weasley rubbed her hands on her apron with a sad expression on her face before walking out of the room to do some more housework.

“Or he’s the world’s biggest prat.” Fred said as their mother left the kitchen. “We better get going, enjoy the sprouts!”

George kissed the top of Hermione’s head. “We will be back soon. Order stuff.”

She nodded understandingly as the twins got up and left the kitchen to go across the snowy grass field. They had to run perimeter and George knew this was just a safety precaution, so he was okay with it pealing him away from Hermione for a few moments. He stuffed his hands into his front pockets of his faded jeans and walked a little faster to try and hurry the process up to return to her side.

Hermione POV

“I don’t get what you see in him.” Ron huffed as Fred and George were out of ear shot. His freckles were popping off of his pink face, still hot from anger. “The twins are gits.”

“Well with that attitude, I’m not helping you with the sprouts. It’s a shame too seeing as I have a fall birthday and could help you with magic.” She got up and tossed her curly hair over her shoulder. “Sorry, Harry.”

Hermione stormed up the stairs to find Ginny furiously cutting away paper snowflakes the muggle way without magic. “Would you like some help?” The 17-year-old girl waved her wand in the air reminding her friend that they had an ability to use magic since Hermione was old enough.

Ginny smiled as she tucked the small braid that was holding her fringe behind her ear. “That would be amazing! Where’s George? I would’ve asked you originally, but I assumed…”

“He’s busy doing something for the Order.” Hermione nodded sadly as she flicked her wand and bewitched three pairs of scissors to begin cutting furiously at the paper to turn them into delicate snowflakes. She grabbed a pair of scissors herself and begin helping Ginny cut the muggle way as the other scissors helped them speed up the process.

“Well, I’m glad to have a bit of girl time even if it’s brief.” Ginny smiled and winked mischievously at her friend, looking a lot like the twins as she mimicked their signature move.

“Get ready for even more girl time… your mother informed me Fleur is going to be staying with us.” Hermione chuckled.

“Oh, I doubt it.” Ginny laughed.

“What do you mean?”

The red-headed girl looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “I honestly figured you and Fleur would just put stuff in my room as a formality and go stay with Bill or George.”

Hermione blushed since she hadn’t even thought of that possibility. “Oh… I didn’t even think of that.”

Her friend chuckled. “Did you honestly plan on sleeping in here every night? You’re more than welcome to of course! I just assumed… I mean… What do you think you’ll do?”

Her face felt like it was going darker in color the more her friend pried and tried to get a peek inside her head. To be honest, Hermione hadn’t even thought of it. She wasn’t one for breaking the rules often. What would happen if Mrs. Weasley found out? Wouldn’t it be weird for her to violate that rule? “I’m honestly not sure…”

Ginny took that as a cue that Hermione was frazzled and switched the topic to how clueless Dean has been on their last date. Apparently, he was unfocused on the conversation and Ginny wanted to make sure she wasn’t overanalyzing the scenario and wanted another female opinion on the matter. Hermione listened and nodded at the appropriate times. She was a little distracted however and kept wondering to what George would think if she snuck into his room in the middle of the night…

After the girls cut up all of the snowflakes and made a large festive paperchain with bright red and green paper. They began to hang them up in the living room to make it more lively and Christmas ready. Fred came in with a bleeding ankle and a garden gnome that was stupefied and painted gold and put it on the top of the Christmas tree. “Bastard bit my ankle. So now he will serve as a Christmas topper.”

George laughed and waved his wand to add small wings to the back of the gnome making it the ugliest Christmas angel that Hermione had ever seen in her entire life. Harry and Ron bellowed in laughter at the opening of the living room carrying the carrots that the four boys were picking out of the garden moments before.

Bill and Fleur emerged from the fireplace, traveling by Floo and smiled as they saw the others filling the living room. Fleur gave Harry a hug and hoped that this year was going well, she still apparently cared for him after competing in the Tri-Wizard Tournament with him. She then turned her attention to Hermione and Ginny and gave both the girls a hug. “Do you think she will be more warmed up to me this year?” Fleur asked Hermione and she knew immediately that she was referring to Mrs. Weasley.

“Well… you’re here this year versus hiding in a tearoom at the hospital so I think that’s a positive start!” The bushy haired Gryffindor girl gave the other a calm and understanding smile. “It’ll all work out in the end. Besides, the only opinion that matters is Bill’s, right?”

Fleur straightened her slender shoulders and nodded in agreement with the Gryffindor’s wise words of encouragement.

They all fell into jobs to do to get ready for Christmas Eve night as Mrs. Weasley bound into the room telling them what needed to be done. Hermione found herself in the kitchen mashing potatoes in a large pot. She could have used magic, but she found it comforting doing it the muggle way. It made her think of her own mother doing the same thing for their Christmas dinners. “I feel like I haven’t gotten a chance to catch up with you, everything has been so crazy around the Burrow.” George smiled and leaned against the counter next to her.

“You could help me out, you know.” She teased him.

“You could use magic, you know.” He repeated in a same teasing manner but instead, he got out some hot pads for his hands and another potato masher to help her get the potatoes in a lumpy formation. “I find it fascinating that you like to do things the muggle way. I know it makes my dad really happy when he sees it.”

“It reminds me of my own parents…” She said sadly, thinking that since she was here, they would be spending Christmas on their own. “I miss them.”

“Do you regret coming here?” George asked seriously with his eyebrows raised. “You don’t have to stay here for me, I understand if you want to spend the holiday with them!”

She shook her head. “No… I think it’s safer if I’m here. I worry that if I’m too close to them that they will get hurt with everything going on. Not that I would want to put your family in danger but…”

“Hey if Harry is already here, I think they would be after the Burrow. Besides, Weasley’s can defend themselves.” George winked at her and whisked his wand to clean the utensils that they were using to mash the potatoes. “Let’s go for a walk while we wait for the others to finish their jobs.”

“What if your mother needs more help?”

“I’m being selfish. I want some Hermione time.” He smiled and waved his wand once more, bringing all of their winter gear coming flying towards them to bundle them up to protect them from the slight snow that was falling outside the window.

She blushed slightly. Hermione wouldn’t admit it, but she was thankful that they were going to get some alone time. She had been missing him immensely and was going to attempt to soak up every moment of his time this break. “I feel like I haven’t gotten a chance to even ask you… how are you and Fred doing with the change of having to move back home?”

George sighed and held her hand with his own as they walked outside. “It’s hard. It was harder to see some of the products get destroyed but I’m just glad Fred and I are okay. Our lives are more important than the joke shop. It’s just another thing that the war is making us sacrifice.”

Hermione nodded taking the information in. “I’m glad you are okay too… I couldn’t bare if you were hurt.”

George sighed and turned to face her with a rare look of worry on his face. “I might get hurt, Hermione. This is a war we are talking about. I’m fighting on the front line with the Order. I’m doing it to keep you and my family safe. If I ever do get hurt—”

“You won’t.” Hermione said fiercely and was aware that her feet felt like they were frozen in the snowy ground from fear of what he was saying.

He sighed and stared up to the sky with his thumb playing circles on the back of her hand. “Hermione, if I do—”

“You won’t!” She interrupted again and felt a hot tear fall down from her eye. She knew she was being ridiculous, acting like a child, not at all like the of age witch she is. The thought of George hurt from a death eater was too much to think about at the moment.

“Hermione.” George wrapped her into his arms and pulled her close, wrapping her in the comforting combination of vanilla and firework smoke. He played with her curly hair as he spoke. “If I get hurt… you cannot stop fighting. It might be hard, but you need to keep Ron and Harry safe. It’s all a part of some bigger picture that I don’t know about. I do know that you three are a big role that we need to keep safe. Dumbledore made that clear. You need to promise me, you will keep fighting.”

She felt pride swell in her chest. Dumbledore deemed her and her friends valuable enough to be a big picture in the war. Why wasn’t he telling them any of this? Probably it wasn’t the time to do so. Still, it made her said to hear him talk about himself as being expendable in this war. He wasn’t insignificant in her life. “I can keep fighting if you promise to never stop taking care of yourself and fighting yourself.”

“Never.” George said and kissed the top of her head.


	24. Sleepovers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “This is a bad idea!” Hermione clipped and looked between the three Weasley’s. “I think you’re as much trouble as your brothers!”  
> Ginny raised her head up high and her blue eyes filled with a proud fire. “That is the highest compliment you could have ever given to me. I’ll see you in the morning.” She winked and closed the door to her room with Hermione’s pillow outside the door.  
> The curly-haired Gryffindor shook her head in disbelief. “Weasley’s… you all will be the death of me, I swear.” She picked up her scarlet colored pillow and turned to the twins. “Well… lead the way.”  
> Fred laughed and bound down the hall to their room. “Don’t act like you don’t know where to go, you’ve been to the Burrow multiple times, Hermione.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoy this chapter!! As always, I don't own characters within the story I'm just a sucker for George X Hermione!

Chapter Twenty-Four

George POV

After the Christmas Eve festivities of dinner and playing Wizard’s snap, everyone began to turn in for the night. Mrs. Weasley, after cleaning the kitchen, was exhausted and went to bed the earliest. Lupin and his father had stayed up but went out to the shed for privacy. They told Fred and him that it was Order business and to keep the younger ones away from the shed. When George pointed out that Hermione was of age right now, his father and shot him a warning glance. “We are not dealing with these types of fights again, George. You know the rule. If someone is still in Hogwarts, they are not to be a member of the Order. I’m not having this conversation with you again.”

He nodded and shoved his hands into his robes. He knew better than to bring it up, but he wanted her to know everything that was going on. It felt silly not to let her know. She was bright enough. She would understand the importance of keeping a secret.

Fred clapped him on the back. “Chin up, Forge. We have sweaters to look forward to in the morning. Let’s go to bed.”

The twins took the stairs two at a time and ran smack into Ginny and Hermione who were arguing in front of their sister’s room. “What’s going on, ladies?” George asked in a joking manner as he leaned against the door frame behind Hermione.

“Not arguing, I hope.” Fred added, mimicking George’s move and leaning behind Ginny. “Otherwise, I will have to take away points from Gryffindor.”

“Hermione is mad because she knows I’m right for once.” Ginny stuck her tongue out at the other Gryffindor girl. “I’ve decided to go over her head about the matter.”

“No!” Hermione was blushing across her cheeks which made George chuckle. “She is not going to do anything.”

Ginny raised her red eyebrows and turned her attention to the twins. “I told Hermione that you boys wouldn’t mind if she stayed in your room as long as mum doesn’t find out. I think it would be nice for you two to have more time together.”

George opened his mouth and shut it. He was one for breaking the rules but the wrath of Mrs. Weasley on this matter would be wicked to deal with. He knew that Bill didn’t care because Fleur already was disliked. He would hate for Hermione to get on his mother’s bad side again. Fred laughed and clapped the back of George’s back. “I don’t mind! If George does, Hermione could always snuggle up in my bed.”

“Fred.” George smacked his twin’s stomach. “I suppose we do have first patrol in the morning… Hermione you would have to go back into Ginny’s room then, so mum doesn’t catch you.” George blushed now to match Hermione’s.

“This is a bad idea!” Hermione clipped and looked between the three Weasley’s. “I think you’re as much trouble as your brothers!”

Ginny raised her head up high and her blue eyes filled with a proud fire. “That is the highest compliment you could have ever given to me. I’ll see you in the morning.” She winked and closed the door to her room with Hermione’s pillow outside the door.

The curly-haired Gryffindor shook her head in disbelief. “Weasley’s… you all will be the death of me, I swear.” She picked up her scarlet colored pillow and turned to the twins. “Well… lead the way.”

Fred laughed and bound down the hall to their room. “Don’t act like you don’t know where to go, you’ve been to the Burrow multiple times, Hermione.”

“You don’t have to stay the night with me if you don’t want to.” George whispered as Fred went into their room ahead of them.

“I want to. I’m just nervous is all. If your mother catches us…” She shuddered at the idea. “I hope I don’t talk in my sleep again.”

“Oh, I hope you do!” George smiled and gave her a loving kiss. “I think it’s adorable.”

She beamed behind a blush and held her shoulders back before marching into their room. Fred was already in his pajamas and getting into bed, clearly not looking forward to the morning patrol and wanting to get as much sleep as possible. “Do remember we are capable of magic and the muffliato or silencio charm if anything… mischievous happens.” He wiggled his eyebrows before turning so that he was facing the wall to give them some type of privacy.

George could feel the heat roll off of Hermione’s body as the blush grew down her neck. “Oh, for the love of Merlin.” She huffed.

They climbed into George’s small twin-size bed and he was rather embarrassed that it was so small. His family never had a lot of money, so it never bothered him that his tall frame had to squeeze on to the child’s size bed. Now, with Hermione joining him, it was like a puzzle trying to fit together. She curled up next to him, not appearing to mind. “Merry Christmas, Georgie.” She kissed his neck and cheek.

He felt his body grow warm as the closeness of her became apparent to him. He tried calming himself down since he knew that there would be no way for her to not notice. “Merry Christmas to you too, love.”

George felt he imagined it, but it was as if she leaned into his boxer bottoms where he was growing every moment at the closeness. He glanced down at her to see if she was aware of what she was doing. She giggled and acted innocent.

_Game on, Granger_ he thought to himself.

With a thought of privacy, he casted silencio so that Fred wouldn’t hear them and another charm to silently move the wardrobe in between the two beds so that if he accidently turned around there wouldn’t be anything to see. With that move, Hermione raised her eyebrow at him.

In response, he pulled her body tight against his and began to kiss her passionately. It had been too long since they were like this. It wasn’t appropriate to do something like this in front of his family and it seemed like they were never alone.

Hermione moaned lightly into his lips. She must’ve missed the touch as well because there was a sense of urgency in her actions. She yanked on his hair and pulled him closer to her, if that was possible.

George tore away from her lips and kissed her neck down to her breasts. Hermione gasped in response. “George!” She said in a teasing voice.

“I can stop.” He said seriously, looking into her eyes for confirmation that this was okay. God, he hoped that it was okay. Everything about her right now was calling for him.

She nodded her head and smiled. “I love you, George.”

“God, I love you too, Hermione. I’ve fucking missed you so much.” He returned to her lips while his hands slipped under her shirt to play with her breasts.

She moaned and climbed on top of him, letting her legs go on either side of him, cradling him underneath her thighs. Her mouth went to his neck, which made him moan her name. Hermione smiled in response and bit his ear lobe.

George flipped her around so that he was hovering over her and she was laying on her back. He licked his fingers and slipped them underneath her pajama bottoms. Hermione’s eyes grew wide with anticipation and nerves. They had never been this intimate with each other before and it felt like a big step in their relationship. He teased her by playing around the outside of her. “Is this okay?”

She nodded and smiled at him. “It’s more than okay, George. I love you.”

“I love you, too.” He said before returning his lips to her as he sank his fingers into her. She moaned in pleasure as he played with her, feeling her grow wet around him. After a while, he put two fingers into her and watched as her back arched on the bed. It made him smile as he kissed her, feeling her squirm underneath him. “You’re beautiful, Hermione.” He breathed into her ear as her eyes rolled back into her head.

“I probably look ridiculous right now.” She argued behind a playful smile.

“On the contrary, I wish I could see you like this every day.” He bit her neck playfully as she curled her toes against his leg.

“Oh, George. Just like that… I think… I mean I’ve never… But I think…” She let out a small scream as she reached her climax. He kissed her as she came down and licked his fingers dry. “That was… amazing.” Hermione said breathlessly. “I think it’s your turn now.”

George raised an eyebrow. “Oh yeah?”

She wiggled out from underneath him and tied her hair back into a braid that fell down her back. Before he could say anything else, her mouth was on him and it was so warm and inviting that he felt like he sank further into the bed.

She gripped him with both of her hands as her mouth was going up and down. She licked him from the base to the tip, teasing him before allowing him to touch the back of her throat. He moaned deeply and gripped her curly hair for support as he felt himself begin to lose control. “Fuck, Hermione.” He moaned out.

Hermione began to move faster with this confidence boost, and he couldn’t take it anymore. He climaxed and she seemed taken aback at first but then swallowed before wiping off her mouth. “Was that any good?” She asked nervously.

George shot his eyebrows up while trying to get his head clear. “Are you joking?” his head was still spinning, and his heart was still racing. “That was… brilliant, Hermione.” He pulled her down to his lips so that he could kiss her once more. “I love you.”

She smiled and returned the kiss. “I love you too.”

He pulled her close to him after they dressed again and moved the wardrobe back with magic. “Good night, love.”

“Good night, Georgie.” She wrapped her arms around his neck before drifting off into a peaceful sleep.

He almost couldn’t sleep. He was so focused on the slight rise and fall of her chest as she breathed. He smiled down at her, playing and drawing circles gently on her back. George could watch her sleep all night and be enchanted by her beauty.

Hermione POV

The boys woke her up in the morning before they left for patrol so she could sneak back into Ginny’s room. She crawled into her makeshift bed there and drifted back to sleep, dreaming of her night with George.

She was woken up by being beaten on the head with a pillow. “I swear to god, Hermione Granger. If you are going to have sex dreams about my older brother, you are going to have to stop sleep talking!” Ginny screeched to her friend as she stood over her, beating her still with the pillow that was clutched in her hands.

Hermione’s face got hot as the blush was spreading across her cheeks. “I wasn’t—I didn’t—”

“You can’t even try and lie, Hermione.” Ginny laughed before changing her voice to sound like Hermione’s, “Oh, George… Oh, right there!” She put her back of her hand on her forehead to act like she was an actress in a bad movie, fawning over a guy. Her voice went back to normal and she added. “It’s disgusting.” She winked so that her friend would know that she was happy for her.

Hermione shook her head and turned her attention to the gifts that were pilled at the foot of her cot. She began to open them and was surprised that George had gifted her with another charm to add to the golden bracelet that he got her last year. It was an elegant and simple ruby that was cut into a shape of a small heart. She clasped it onto the small gold chain and smiled at it. The note said, _now you can take my heart wherever you go. With love, George_.

Her parents had gifted her with a new pair of jeans and a book that was a new best seller in the muggle world. She smelled the Christmas card that came with it and was overwhelmed with the homesick feeling she got at the smell of fresh linen and pine that she associated with her house.

Harry and Ron pitched in together to get her a gift of a homework planner and it labeled, _this one has more spots so that you can fill in times when you need to yell at us. -Ron and Harry_. She laughed at the card, tucking it into the planner as black mail to show them that they were encouraging her to yell at them before tossing it into her school bag that contained all of her Hogwarts supplies.

The Weasley’s had gifted her another jumper, that Hermione immediately put on with the new jeans that her parents got her. She felt a confidence boost ripple through her and the feeling of love from receiving presents from everyone she loves.

The two girls left the room wearing their matching jumpers and met the other members of the Order and Weasley clan downstairs in the kitchen from the annual Christmas lunch. Everyone was wearing Weasley jumpers (except for Fleur who did not look phased). Mrs. Weasley was sporting a brand new, and beautiful witches’ hat. She was beaming at Fred and George. “Thank you so much, boys. It really is stunning!”

“We seem to appreciate you more and more, Mum, now that we’re washing our own socks.” George said as he leaned in to kiss his mother’s cheek.

“Merry Christmas, mum.” Fred added as he kissed her other cheek.

Hermione sank into the wooden chair next to George and Ginny sat across from them. Hermione blushed as she saw George, thinking not only of her dream, but of what happened last night in his room. The Weasley girl didn’t take light of this interaction and chuckled at the two. “Fred did you sleep well last night?” Ginny asked as she poured gravy over her mashed potatoes.

Hermione chocked on her pumpkin juice while George shot a look at his sister. Fred roared in laughter that no one understood and leaned over the table to give his sister and approving tap on the top of her head. “You’re such a rebel, Gin. You’ve learned so much.”

They were interrupted by Mrs. Weasley jumping up from the crowded table. “Percy!”

Everyone at the table whipped their head around to see Percy Weasley looking less than thrilled to be at the Burrow. He was followed inside by the Minister of Magic. “Hello.” Percy said shortly to his mother who was throwing her arms around his neck, nearly knocking him over in the process.

The Minister of Magic clearly had set something up so that he could talk to Harry alone. Hermione looked at her friend nervously before he ducked out the door with the Minister. The attention of the room returned to Percy who was crossing his arms and looking at the wall, looking bored at the family reunion.

Hermione held George’s hand as she could feel the anger rippling off of his and Fred’s body as they stared at their brother who was ignoring their mother’s attempt to give him a Weasley jumper. “No thank, Mum. I’ll just have to mail it back. It won’t get used.”

Mrs. Weasley’s eyes began to fill with tears before a loud WACK filled the air. Three separate wads of mashed potatoes flew at Percy. Two of the three had hit both sides of his large glasses and the third landed directly on his forehead. Percy roared with fury as both the twins and Ginny snickered before looking at each other with shock. Clearly, they were all planning the same thing but didn’t realize the other siblings were thinking the same thing.

Percy stormed out just as Harry was storming back in. Both boys were looking red in the face. Mrs. Weasley began to cry again and stormed upstairs where Arthur and Lupin chased after her to calm her down. “Merry Christmas” Bill muttered and dumped some fire whiskey into his pumpkin juice. “Cheers!” He said sarcastically before downing the drink.

The rest of the day went by with everyone tiptoeing around Mrs. Weasley and avoiding talking about what had happened with Percy. It was clear he no longer wanted to be associated with the Weasley family and that thought was taking over Mrs. Weasley’s day.

Break went by too fast for Hermione. She was enjoying every moment of the days watching George and Fred prank their family members and the nights were spent curled up to George’s side talking about life after Hogwarts or enjoying passionate kisses and other touches that made Hermione blush as she thought back to them.

Harry raised an eyebrow to her as she began blushing as they stood in front of the fireplace to Floo back to Hogwarts. She shook her head; she was not about to talk to Harry or Ron about her nights with George. She hadn’t even opened up to Ginny about it yet, besides what the other girl might have overheard while she was sleep talking.

Mrs. Weasley was sobbing as the Gryffindors prepared to return. “It’s okay, Mum. Don’t cry.” Ginny wrapped her mother in her athletic arms, in a tight hug as if to protect the older witch. “We will be home before you know it!”

Ron smiled sheepishly, always not the best at knowing what to say. “Don’t worry about us. Or Percy, he’s such a prat, it’s not really a loss, is it?” As their mother began to wail even harder, Fred smacked the back of Ron’s head.

Hermione gave George a tight hug. “I love you.”

“I love you, too. Stay out of trouble and keep those out of trouble.” He winked at her. “Well, the actual trouble. Not Hogwarts rules, trouble. You know I don’t care if you wanted to break a few of those.”

“Not likely, Georgie.” She shook her head as they kissed and embraced each other in a hug once more before it was time for the students to return to school.

When she climbed into the fireplace after Ginny disappeared with the green flames, her eyes latched onto George like a lifeline. She wiped away a tear that was building into her eye and smiled before tossing the green powder onto the ground and shouting, “Hogwarts!”.


	25. Destination, Determination, Deliberation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The next day, Hermione woke up and was alarmed at Harry basically tugging Ron’s arm from the boy’s room. “Happy Birthday, Ron!” Hermione chuckled at Ron’s bewildered face.   
>  Lavender jumped up to wrap her arms around her boyfriend but was cut off by him looking at her like she had a third head. “Leave me alone. Harry is going to introduce me to Romilda Vane!” He pushed his way through her and out of the portrait hole.  
>  Harry made an apologetic face to Lavender who began to tear up. The boys were out of the common room before Hermione could even ask what was going on. Then… it hit her.  
>  The love potion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all are enjoying this story so far! I have been re-reading the novels and re-watching the movies due to this fanfiction and I'm trying to keep the events as similar to those!
> 
> I do not own the characters of this story!

Chapter Twenty-Five

Hermione POV

As the members of the group that arrived at Hogwarts from the Weasley’s went into the Gryffindor common room, they were attacked with a loud squeal, “Won-won!” Lavender Brown jumped into his arms as he twirled her around, “I’ve missed you so much!”

Ron smiled and seemed to melt into the girl’s arms. “I’ve missed you too, Lavender.” Several of the other Gryffindors in the room sniggered.

Hermione laughed at her friend’s blissful ignorance to the scene he was a part of. “There’s a table over there… let’s sit down.”

Ginny hesitated. “I actually have to talk to Dean.” She sounded grim.

Hermione raised an eyebrow at her friend who just shook her head as if to tell the other girl, _talk about it later_. Harry’s green eyes followed the youngest Weasley with a look of disappointment. “I don’t get what she sees in him.”

“She’ll pick the right person in the end.” Hermione laid a hand on her friends arm in a comforting matter. “Let’s just enjoy tonight and get ready for the next term. I’m sure you won’t want to think of school with Dumbledore’s and all your other classes.”

He smiled sheepishly at her. “Thanks, Hermione. You’re a good friend.”

They sat around and enjoyed each other’s company as their other friends wandered into the common room from holiday. Neville was telling them a story of how his grandmother had nearly chased him around the house because he accidentally said You-Know-Who’s name over dinner. From the look of his face, it was sure to be his newest fear.

The next day, all of the 6th years were excited from the sign that was pinned to the common room notice board about apparition lessons. It cost 12 galleons and had a sign up available under the posting. “Are you two going to sign up?” Ron asked.

Harry seemed to turn a little green in the face. “I don’t know… when Dumbledore apparated with me it made me feel sick.”

“I better pass my test the first time. If the twins can, I’m sure it can’t be that hard.” Ron frowned at the sign.

Hermione smacked the back of her friend’s head. “Your brothers aren’t idiots, you know. Besides… didn’t Charlie fail it the first time that he did it?”

Ron blushed, forgetting sometimes that Hermione would defend the twins when they weren’t around. “Charlie’s a lot bigger than me… I didn’t mean… oh bloody hell… sorry.”

As the other 6th years were busy talking animatedly about the prospect of apparition lessons, Harry disappeared with only Ron and Hermione noticing to his lesson with Dumbledore. Hermione took this opportunity to get out a piece of parchment and quill. Ron seemed to notice that she would be busy and snuck off somewhere with Lavender.

_George,_

_Guess what?_

_6 th years are finally being allowed to learn how to apparate! Now YOU will be the one getting surprised by ME as I apparate whenever I please. Although, I do think that you and Fred took it to the extreme back when you first turned 17._

_Isn’t it strange thinking how different our lives were just one year ago? You should see how nervous Ron is of failing the test. His only reasoning behind not wanting to fail the first time is because you two passed the first time! I will admit if I fail it I will be a little miffed that you both were better at something than me the first time around._

_How are the mail in orders going?_

_How is your family?_

_I know I just left but I already miss being able to see you all!_

_I don’t think Ginny and Dean are doing well. I know she wouldn’t like me to gossip but perhaps you guys could send her a little something to cheer her up? I know she would appreciate it. Do NOT tell her I said anything otherwise she will jinx me into next week! I think her and Molly are the only Weasley’s I’m actually afraid of._

_Anyways, I should probably get a head start on my readings for this coming week. First day of term is always so busy! Anyways, I love you! Write soon._

_Sent with love,_

_Hermione_

The next day, Harry told the rest of the Golden Trio all about his lesson with Dumbledore. Ron didn’t seem a bit concerned with Harry getting information from Slughorn. Hermione shook her head. “He must be determined to hide what really happened if Dumbledore couldn’t get it out of him.” She bit her lip until it bled a little out of frustration.

“What’s wrong, Hermione?” Harry asked concern was laced in his green eyes as he watched his friend toy with a missing piece of information in her brain.

“I’ve never heard that term before, Harry. Horcruxes… I don’t like that it’s something I haven’t even came across reading or hearing about in all of my years of schooling here. At this point, I’ve read through majority of the library and I’ve never heard of Horcruxes.”

“You haven’t? That’s… alarming.” Ron agreed.

“They must be really advanced Dark Magic. Otherwise why would Voldemort want to learn about them when he was in school? Be careful, Harry.” She shivered at the thought of what these horcruxes could possibly be.

Harry decided to wait to talk to Slughorn about the Horcruxes like Hermione suggested. She was thankful since this seemed to be a very serious matter that Dumbledore was trusting Harry. He had enough to worry about anyways with the ministry officials coming in for apparition lessons.

When they entered the Great Hall on the day of the lessons, all of the tables were gone. The Heads of Houses were standing next to a small man from the Ministry. “Good morning! My name is Wilkie Twycross and I shall be your Ministry Apparition instructor for the next twelve weeks. I hope to be able to prepare you for your Apparition Tests in this time. I would like each of you to place yourselves now so that you have a clear five feet of space in front of you.”

Everyone seemed to scramble in the room, eager to learn the new magic. It excited Hermione to see everyone so thrilled with learning. She wished they viewed every lesson at Hogwarts with this same level of enthusiasm.

“The important thing to remember when Apparating are the three D’s! Destination, Determination, Deliberation!” He went on about the steps of apparating which ended up being very difficult.

When the ministry official asked everyone to try apparating for the first time, many lost balances and spun around in their spot. They continued to practice, constantly readjusting their hoops to provide them with space. On the fourth attempt, a loud screech of pain came from Susan Bones of Hufflepuff house. Hermione almost threw up and she realized that Susan was no longer connected with her leg. The Heads of House reattached the leg with magic, but Susan looked like she was going to throw up from the shock and pain that had just happened.

“Splinching, or the separation of random body parts occurs when the mind is insufficiently determined. You must concentrate continuously upon your destination, and move, without haste, but with deliberation.” Twycross gracefully demonstrated apparating across the hall as if a student had not just literally lost their leg trying to do the same thing.

Hermione could not understand why the twins would decide to do this so carelessly when the threat of getting hurt was so high. Then again, the twins never did anything in life without a little risk.

The lesson went on each week and it seemed to be getting easier and harder at the same time. She was getting flustered and thought she would never be able to apparate. Harry was rather distracted when they left the lessons, he was using that time to attempt to spy on Malfoy and his idea that he was a death eater.

March suddenly appeared out of nowhere and a post went up on the notice board canceling the trip to Hogsmeade. Hermione’s heart sank. That was her opportunity to see George.

Ron seemed even more upset. “It was on my birthday! What a bloody joke.”

“Not a big surprise after what happened to Katie.” Harry shrugged and tapped the back of his friends back. “Sorry, mate. We will do something for your birthday.”

“If Won-Won won’t be busy with Lavender Brown.” Ginny chuckled and dodged a pillow that was chucked at her head from her brother. 

The next day, Hermione woke up and was alarmed at Harry basically tugging Ron’s arm from the boy’s room. “Happy Birthday, Ron!” Hermione chuckled at Ron’s bewildered face.

Lavender jumped up to wrap her arms around her boyfriend but was cut off by him looking at her like she had a third head. “Leave me alone. Harry is going to introduce me to Romilda Vane!” He pushed his way through her and out of the portrait hole.

Harry made an apologetic face to Lavender who began to tear up. The boys were out of the common room before Hermione could even ask what was going on. Then… it hit her.

The love potion.

She stormed up to Lavender, who was with Romilda in the bathroom when they were talking about the love potions. “Ignore what he said.”

Lavender turned to her with tear filled eyes. “Of course, it’s always going to be another girl I have to worry about. If it’s not you, it’s Romilda Vane.” She shook her curly hair and looked at her feet. “Why can’t I be the one people want first? I’m always a second choice.”

“Oh, come off it, Lavender. You aren’t thinking properly. Ron is obsessed with you. I think he got into something that wasn’t meant for him. Perhaps… meant for Harry?” Hermione crossed her arms and raised her eyebrow in an accusing way.

Lavender blushed, knowing instantly what Hermione was talking about. The two girls knew that the product was banned from Hogwarts grounds and Romilda shouldn’t have had it in the first place. “How could I have been so stupid. Of course, Ron loves me.” She shook her head as if to get the thought out of her mind. “He’s under a love potion. I’m going to kill Romilda for trying to steal Ron.”

“Er—I think she was after Harry. She still shouldn’t be trying to do any of that at all. However, I do want to tell you. Ron is only my friend. I’m in love with George, Lavender. You don’t have to be threatened by me or any other girl for that matter. You’re beautiful and a Gryffindor which means you’re the best of the best.” Hermione patted the girl’s arm awkwardly. She didn’t really know Lavender, but she had a suspicion that the girl was over the top more so around Hermione to claim dominance over Ron.

Lavender blushed slightly. “I’m sorry, Hermione. I should’ve brought this up to you earlier. Thank you.”

Hermione went to studying before Ginny came up and found her with tear filled eyes. “Hermione. We have to go. Now.”

The alarm made her jump up and follow after her red-headed friend. “What’s going on, Gin?” She asked as she tried to chase after her athletic friend which was a challenge on its own without trying to ask questions at the same time.

“It’s Ron!”

This seemed to help Hermione push forward and charge into the evening hallway with Ginny. They raced up to the Hospital Wing and found Harry as he paced outside of the closed double doors. “What happened?” Ginny demanded as she stormed up to Harry who was looking rather flustered.

He filled the girls in on visiting Slughorn and Ron’s near-death experience. Hermione felt like she was going to throw up. How many more times would the Weasley family have to suffer? It seemed like too much.

Madam Pomfrey let the three students in at about 8 o’clock. Fred and George arrived an hour after.

George POV

“This isn’t how we imagined handing over our present to him,” George said grimly as he set a large and obnoxiously wrapped gift on Ron’s bedside cabinet before sitting next to Hermione and wrapping an arm around her as if to shelter her from the scene in front of her.

“Yea, when we pictured the scene, he was fully conscious.” Fred added while plopping in the hospital chair next to Ginny.

“Then we were in Hogsmeade, waiting to surprise him—”

“You were in Hogsmeade?” demanded Hermione looking at her boyfriend, accusingly.

Fred jumped in to respond when he saw that George would not answer. “We were getting serious about buying Zonko’s location. You lot aren’t allowed on the weekends it seems anymore so… never mind that… it doesn’t matter.” He shook his head and turned his attention back towards his brother’s pale face on the cot.

George turned to Harry, ignoring Hermione’s look of questioning on why he didn’t inform her he would be in Hogsmeade. He didn’t feel like he owed her an answer considering she failed to inform him that the trip was canceled, and they wouldn’t see each other this month. “How exactly did this happen, Harry?”

Harry retold the story that he had told to Hermione and Ginny hours ago. “Blimey.” Fred stuttered.

“I’m thankful you had thought of a bezour.” George looked over his pale brother and bit his lip. Hermione grabbed his hand in support, and he returned it with a fierce squeeze. He was thankful that she was here, to keep him from spiraling at the thought of losing his brother. Even though he was a little upset at her for being distant, he knew she was busy. Right now, he was her anchor to weather the storm.

“Mum and Dad are in Dumbledore’s office now.” Ginny sniffed, letting a small tear run down her face before she whipped it away fiercely. “They saw Ron about an hour before you all did.”

“Did Slughorn slip something into his drink?” Fred asked in a whisper to the group of Gryffindors as they watched Ron try to mumble something in his slip.

“Why would a professor try and poison a student?” Hermione asked in a voice that sounded smaller than her own, unsure. George knew that the thought of a professor trying to hurt a student would be hard for her to comprehend. Professors at Hogwarts were her role models, she looked up to them.

His twin shook his head. “No idea. There must be loads of people who’d like to poison Harry. The Chosen One?” His face darkened as he leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. “I’d just like to know who was behind this.”

“Do you think Slughorn is a follower of You-Know-Who?” Ginny asked in a small, squeaky voice.

“He could be under the Imperius Curse.” George said curtly and his arm that was wrapped around Hermione tightened. It was one thing to leave her at Hogwarts by herself, but another if Professors were working under a death eater. It pained him to not be able to protect her right now and watch over her like he was able to do in the Summer and over Christmas break.

The wooden dormitory doors flew open, making all of the people jump. Hagrid came in crying about Ron being hurt and who could do something like that. His tears were filling up his large handkerchief that he pulled from his pocket and he wallowed at the foot of the bed.

“I think there’s a connection to the attacks.” Hermione said quietly at his side as Harry was comforting Hagrid.

George turned to look down at her. She was in deep thought, which he could tell by the crease in between her eyebrow. “How d’you work that out?”

“Well, they both ought to have been fatal and weren’t, although that was pure luck. And for another, neither the poison nor the necklace seems to have reached the person who it was truly supposed to kill. Of course, that makes the person behind this even more dangerous, because they don’t seem to care how many people they finish off before they actually reach their victim.” Hermione looked at the others as they processed what she said.

“Hermione, you make it so hard for me to leave you here with the thought some deranged murderer is on the lose.” George pinched the bridge at the top of his nose in frustration at being so helpless in the situation. Although, he was trying to tell himself that if he was here, he probably wouldn’t be able to see an attack coming if Harry wasn’t able to help Ron before the poison hit his throat.

She patted his back gently as the dormitory doors flew open once more. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley came running up to Ron’s bed. “Oh, Harry… you saved Ginny, Arthur, and now you’ve saved Ron. What would we be without you?” His mother was crying, and she gave the dark-haired boy a fierce hug. “We are so thankful!”

Madame Pomfrey came rushing up to the bed. “Only 6 visitors! Two of you will have to leave!” The healer looked at the large group fiercely, showing she would not budge on the rule.

Harry and Hermione exchanged a glance before standing up, opting to be the ones to leave. George panicked at the thought of losing his anchor and his comfort during this moment of turmoil. He reached out and grabbed her small wrist and looked at her with eyes that pleaded for her to stay. “Hermione, please stay.” He said verbally so Hagrid would hear him beg her to stay with him.

“Oh… oh… I better be off.” Hagrid said, picking up that he should be the other guest to leave. “Molly… Arthur… I’ll be right outside the doors watching over everything.”

His father smiled at the half-giant in thanks. Harry seemed to already disappear. “Where’d he run off to?” George whispered into Hermione’s ear after she settled back down into the chair that was next to him.

“Dumbledore, I suppose. He’s been meeting with him regularly.” She turned to George. “I feel like I don’t belong here. It’s your family, George.”

“You are family, Hermione. I want you here. I understand… if…” he let the sentence fall. He couldn’t bring himself to say that he understood if she wanted to leave. He didn’t understand. He needed her. George couldn’t think of her not being here right now.

“I’ll stay.” She held his hand fiercely and smiled at him. “Don’t worry. I’m not going anywhere. I was just telling you what I felt. I want to be here, with you. And for Ron.”

He wrapped her in his arms as his mother continued to cry and give hugs to her children and talk about how lucky Ron was that Harry was there to save him. His father seemed to give glances at Fred and George with a knowing look that although it was lucky that Harry was there to save the day, it should not have been necessary. Dark wizards have infiltrated Hogwarts somehow. Two Weasleys, Harry, and worst of all, Hermione were stuck within the castle walls with no protection like sitting ducks waiting for an attack.


	26. Quidditch Highs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Later that night, when Harry was done serving detention, he slipped into the common room. “We won!” Ron yelled and showed Harry the silver cup. “Four hundred and fifty to a hundred and forty!”  
> Ginny ran towards Harry with a fierce and determined look in her face, which was probably amplified by the butterbeer she had been drinking. She threw her arms around his neck and planted her lips on his.  
> The other fifty Gryffindors in the room began to hoot and holler as they snogged in front of the others. Ron’s mouth dropped and he turned to Hermione as she laughed. “Did you know about this?”  
> “I know everything, Ron.” She said with a mischievous wink as Ron looked like he was going to throw up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love a good Ginny X Harry moment almost as much as I love George X Hermione. I hope you all are enjoying this story so far! I apologize if there are ever any spelling or gramatical errors, I strictly write for fun.
> 
> I do not own any of the characters in this fan fiction obviously! Enjoy!

Chapter Twenty-Six

Hermione POV

The next days dragged on and Hermione felt like she hardly got any sleep. Between watching over Ron, keeping up with her studies, trying to talk Harry down from following Malfoy, and listening to Ginny’s relationship problems, she thought she was going to snap in half. When she wrote to George expressing her frustrations, he sent a Daydream Charm which she was shocked was able to sneak in through the Hogwarts mail.

Ron’s first day out of the Hospital Wing, he joined them at Breakfast. Hermione looked at the boys and informed them of what they’ve missed which was just that Ginny and Dean had gotten into a fight the night before.

“What about?” Harry asked trying to look merely curious but Hermione knew that he was hoping that they would end things between the two of him so he could make a move.

“Dean was laughing at McLaggen hitting that Bludger at you. They seemed to work it out thought and they’re still together.” She added the last part for her friends benefit and noticed that Ron was oblivious by the comment.

Harry seemed to sink a little on the bench in frustration. She mouthed a word of sorry to him before returning to her breakfast. Lavender Brown stormed the table and began to yell at Ron for not informing her that he was being discharged today. The two others took this as their cue to get up and leave with Ron shooting them looks of annoyance.

“Hermione, you know I hate to ask but… could you help me with some homework while I’m at Dumbledore’s?” Harry looked genuinely pained to ask for assistance from his friend.

She sighed. “I’ll do your Herbology essay but don’t let Ron copy it. He has to do the work himself. The difference between you and him is he’s busy snogging his girlfriend and you’re on a secret task. Completely different.”

“You’re the best, Hermione!” Harry yelled before giving her a quick hug and darting up to Dumbledore’s office.

She rolled her eyes and set out to begin her work and now Harry’s essay. She also made a note to keep her eye out for Horcruxes in the library but was too intimidated to ask the librarian for help in case it was too dark of magic that they didn’t even entrust it within the walls of the library.

Sadly, she didn’t find anything, and returned to the common room when the library had closed. Lavender was snogging Ron in front of the fireplace, so Hermione joined Ginny in a corner. Her friend looked like she was crying again since her bright blue eyes were rimmed with a pinkish red. “Dean?”

Ginny nodded her head. “I just don’t understand why he feels the need to pick fights all the time. Thankfully, the twins sent me a Sleeping Draught so I think I’m going to take that tonight, so I get a good night’s sleep. They also slipped me some candy.” She looked at Hermione with a raised eyebrow. “Thank you.”

“What are you thanking me for?” Hermione asked but flushing from trying to cover her tracks.

“I’m not mad. I know you talk to George. Obviously, you do. It’s nice to be cared for. I just don’t like admitting I’m weak.” She admitted while sinking onto the small table and placing her forehead against the dark wood. “Why can’t I stop fighting?”

Hermione gently rubbed her head before Ginny decided it was time to turn in for the night. She froze before going to the girl’s dorm. “I’m going to end things with him tomorrow. I don’t think any of my friends or family like seeing me hurt. I need to see that I’m worth more than fighting.”

Hermione smiled at the girl and gave her a fierce hug. “I’ll support you no matter what you do, Ginny. But, for what it’s worth. I do think you could do better.”

Most of the common room was turning in for the night, including Lavender. Hermione sunk into the couch next to her friend who was now no longer occupied. “Your lips look swollen.”

Ron smiled softly. “They might be. Near death experiences must be a thing to be forgiven of all wrongs.”

She rolled her eyes and opened up her Potions textbook to do some studying while they wait for Harry. Ron decided that he should start his Herbology essay when Hermione refused to help him. He was using a quill from the joke shop that spell corrected your work, but Hermione decided to ignore that detail.

Harry came in and sunk onto the floor in front of them, tired from the lesson. He began telling them of what happened when Kreacher apparated in front of them with a large bow that made his nose scrape the ground. “Master said he wanted regular reports on what the Malfoy boy is doing, so Kreacher has come to give—”

With another _crack_ , Dobby was standing next to the other house elf with a small hat on his head. “Dobby has been helping too, for his friend, Harry Potter!”

Hermione glared at her friend for using House Elves and ordering Kreacher around despite her being the head of S.P.E.W. “What on earth is this, Harry?”

“Well… they’ve been watching Malfoy for me.” Harry turned red in the face as Hermione’s glare got more intense and Ron raised his eyebrows at the two.

“We haven’t slept in a week.” Dobby said cheerfully, swaying as he spoke from the exhaustion.

Hermione’s mouth dropped. Her heart sank at the poor treatment that these house elves were dealing with for her own friend. “I can’t believe you, Harry!” She shrieked before lowering her voice, remembering they were in the common room, despite it being empty besides the three of them and the house elves.

“I didn’t tell them to do that!” Harry said as he looked sadly at the elves as well. “Dobby, you can sleep, all right? But have either of you found any information?”

Kreacher spoke up at once in his scratchy voice. “Master Malfoy eats in the Great Hall, he sleeps in a dormitory in the dungeons, he attends his classes in a variety of—”

Harry turned away from the House of Black’s house elve and turned to Dobby. “Have you found anything?”

Dobby squeaked. “The Malfoy boy is breaking no rules that Dobby can discover, but he is still keen to avoid detection. He has been making regular visits to the seventh floor with a variety of other students, who keep watch for him while he enters—”

“The Room of Requirement!” Harry and Hermione realized at the same time.

Hermione’s chest began to fill with dread. She had doubted Harry this entire time of Malfoy’s involvement with anything. Harry sent the house elves away and Hermione began reeling in her mind of all different messes this new information was giving her. “Harry… who do you think the other students are? You don’t think they know exactly what Malfoy is doing, do you?”

Harry began to list of his ideas of how to get into the Room of Requirement and Hermione shook her head. “I don’t know, Harry. I still don’t think you’ll be able to get into there without knowing what’s there first. It’s part of the magic. Plus, you’re supposed to be focusing on Slughorn, remember?”

They continued with this debate throughout the next week on Malfoy and Slughorn. Hermione was annoyed with his hypothesis on top of dealing with her real-life issues. They were bickering over talking to Slughorn again over breakfast when Ron brightened. “Luck… Harry use the liquid Luck!”

Hermione dropped her book with a plop in surprise. “That’s brilliant, Ron! Why didn’t I think of that? You can do it while we are at the apparition test! The other 6th years will be distracted so you know he won’t be bothered by other students that are his favorites.”

Harry nodded. “Alright, I will! Goodluck on your test!”

“Good luck to you too!” She gave him a quick hug before he downed the drink with the potion and jumped up to run out of the Great Hall on his own.

The next morning, Harry looked like he could fall over from sleep deprivation, but he smiled at Ron and Hermione. “I did it. I got the memory and got it to Dumbledore.”

“That’s great, Harry!” Ron cheered his friend on.

“So… what did you learn?” Hermione pressed as they dropped their voices.

Harry filled them in on horcruxes nature and Hermione cast a Muffliato spell so that the people closest to them couldn’t hear what they were saying. Hermione shuttered at the thought of Voldemort making Horcruxes and Dumbledore taking Harry along to destroy them.

“Wow!” Ron said when his friend was finished.

Harry ran off as he noticed Katie Bell entering the Great Hall. “I have to keep gathering as much information as I can! Don’t wait up for me! I have to ask Katie if she knew who did that to her.”

Hermione and Ron were left at the breakfast table to awe after their friend. Ginny slid next to Hermione. “I’m officially single.”

Ron looked at her. “I thought you and Dean already broke up a couple different times? What makes this one official?” He shrunk back as both Ginny and Hermione hit him from across the table.

“I told him. I’m done. I deserve to be treated better. I know my worth.” Ginny repeated the statements to herself as if she was trying to believe the words herself. Hermione put a hand on her arm.

“I’m proud of you, Ginny. That must’ve been really hard.” She gave her friend a loving hug while Ron muttered about how crazy girls were.

At the end of the day, they were shocked they haven’t seen or heard from either Harry or Malfoy. Hermione was beginning to worry that Draco had caught on to Harry following him around and attacked him. She nearly ran into his arms when he walked into the common room with a red face. “Harry! What happened today?”

“Er—well… I sort of got detention for attacking Malfoy with a spell from my Potions book. It didn’t turn out very well. It was the one labeled for enemies.” Harry looked guilty down at his beat-up sneakers.

“I told you that book was no good! You can’t blindly trust this Half-Blood Prince!” Hermione crossed her arms over her chest.

“It doesn’t matter now, Hermione. I have to go tell the Gryffindor team that I can’t play on Saturday because I’ll be serving detention. I might be dead.” Hermione followed him over to the couches that the quidditch team was lounging on as they laughed.

When Harry filled them in on what happened, Ginny’s eyes were on him, but Harry refused to meet her glare. When the other teammates, besides Ron and Ginny, left the couches in frustration, Hermione continued her lecture. “I think you need to get rid of that book.”

“Will you stop lecturing me on this book?” Harry snapped at her.

It made her step back as she felt the anger rippling off of him. “I can’t believe that you’re actually defending whoever this Half-Blood Prince is when the contents of this book nearly killed Malfoy today!”

“Give it a rest, Hermione!” Snapped Ginny. “By the sound of it, Malfoy was trying to use an unforgivable curse on Harry. He had to defend himself.”

Hermione’s mouth dropped open. Why was Ginny getting in an argument with her now? It didn’t make any sense to Hermione since she was the one Ginny had been coming to crying for the past couple of months’ now. “I’m not dealing with this, right now.” Hermione sniffed and went up to the Gryffindor girls’ dormitory to write a letter to George in peace.

_George_

_I wish things made sense._

_It seems like people are always against me sometimes. I won’t get into too much detail because I don’t you forced to pick sides of anything. I’m just worried about Harry is all and apparently looking out for him makes me the bad guy._

_Wishing I could turn to you in person right now._

_I love you._

_XX_

_Hermione_

That Saturday, the Quidditch match was rather exciting despite the row that Hermione had gotten in with Ginny the other day. The girls made up as they were walking down to the pitch. Ginny admitted that she was trying to impress Harry.

Hermione fought a smile on her lips. “Ginny! Harry?!”

“Shh!! My brother will hear!” Ginny smacked her friends’ arm and covered her mouth with her other hand. “You can’t say a word! I mean it, Hermione!”

“You certainly don’t take that long to move on…” Hermione wiggled her eyebrows in a very twin like fashion which made Ginny roll her eyes.

“You need to stop hanging out with George! You’re turning into him. No lecture?”

“I think you’ll get a lecture from the twins or Ron rather than me! Or maybe Harry would get the lecture. Besides, all those brothers, I would be intimidated if I were Harry even if he is so well liked in your house.” Hermione laughed as she teased her best friend on the way to the match.

The quidditch match was actually rather exciting since there was so much riding on the game. Ginny was going against Cho as Seeker and knowing that Ginny liked Harry made it all the more interesting for Hermione to watch. It seemed like Ginny was personally taking their past relationship out on Cho as she was playing fiercely in the air.

It worked out for Gryffindor in the end because they won the cup! The stands that were decorated in scarlet and gold burst into cheers and rushed to the pitch to try and touch the glittering silver cup. “Party in the common room!” Ginny called to Hermione as she made it over to hug her friend in congratulations.

Later that night, when Harry was done serving detention, he slipped into the common room. “We won!” Ron yelled and showed Harry the silver cup. “Four hundred and fifty to a hundred and forty!”

Ginny ran towards Harry with a fierce and determined look in her face, which was probably amplified by the butterbeer she had been drinking. She threw her arms around his neck and planted her lips on his.

The other fifty Gryffindors in the room began to hoot and holler as they snogged in front of the others. Ron’s mouth dropped and he turned to Hermione as she laughed. “Did you know about this?”

“I know everything, Ron.” She said with a mischievous wink as Ron looked like he was going to throw up.

When the two broke apart from their kiss, Ginny giggled as the pair looked at Ron and Hermione. Ron waltzed up to his friend and narrowed his eyes looking intimidating before sighing. “I swear Harry. If you treat her like Cho… I’ll hit you with a bludger bat. Do you hear me? I don’t care that you’re my friend.”

Harry held up his hands. “I promise, Ron! I won’t do anything like that.”

Ginny laughed and grabbed Harry’s hand, pulling him outside of the portrait hole to privacy which only made Ron groan with annoyance besides Hermione until they were out of sight. “Two of my friends now.”

“What?”

“You and Harry! Snogging with my siblings. No more! The Weasley family is closed to relationships, now.” Ron crossed his arms but was relaxed by Lavender coming up to them.

“Does that include me?” She said with a giggle as his face softened.

Hermione laughed and left those two to some privacy while she found Neville and celebrated the victory with him. It felt perfect, besides her ache to also be with the person she loved. She would love to kiss George in front of the Gryffindor common room in a very non-Hermione like way.


	27. Darkness and Death Eaters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bill was gasping for air and crying out in pain as the blood dripped down his face. The twins knelt down in front of him, trying to reassure him as they tried to close the wounds. “They’re too deep, Fred.” George panicked and turned his attention to their backs, protecting them from any death eater that may try and jump them while they are distracted.  
>  “Don’t give up on us, Bill.” Fred demanded as he worked furiously to close the wounds that the werewolf had given their brother. “Think of Fleur. Think of Mom. They both will kill you if you die on us.”  
>  Bill nodded slightly and handed them a handkerchief to use to stop the bleeding in a muggle way. The twins took turns trying to treat the wounds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Weasley's break my heart! I love that family so much. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter of Always and Forever and as always, I don't own the characters or anything like that. :)

Chapter Twenty-Seven

George POV:

Dinner was eventful. Tonks and Lupin had paid the Weasley family a visit and they were all laughing at a new invention the twins had come up with. Mrs. Weasley was about to give them a lecture about working under her roof when McGonagall’s Patronus crashes into the wall and her voice fills the small space. “ _Hogwarts has fallen. Death eaters are inside the castle. Dumbledore is away with Harry Potter, but the other students and the school is at risk. There is a dark mark in the sky.”_

George had to hold back the dinner that was threatening to return up his throat. He got to his feet immediately, clutching his wand. His mother looked like all of the blood had drained from her face as her entire family prepared for battle. Lupin looked at the twins, Bill, and then to Arthur. “There’s no time to get the other members. We have to go.” Everything that they were preparing for was happening. The death eaters had gotten into the castle.

Fred looked at George and clasped his arm as they were preparing to leave, “You ready, George?”

“Ready, Fred.” He said grimly with a short nod. The boys knew that they were going to have to fight for their lives. Fight for their family’s lives. Fight for their childhood.

Out of habit, George grabbed the coin from D.A that Hermione had given all the members from his seventh year. His throat tightened as he saw that she had signaled the remaining members of D.A. He prayed that she was okay. Now, he knew she was in danger or needing help. Otherwise, she would not have asked.

Hogwarts was in ruins by the time they got there. The professors were trying to keep students away from harm by throwing jinxes back at the mad death eaters who seemed to be everywhere. George didn’t have time to look for the head of curls he longed to protect, he had to jump in and defend the school immediately.

He was fighting side by side with Fred, Bill, Ron, and Lupin. All of them having a death eater of their own to worry about. He felt the sweat drip down his neck as a bright light of green went by too close for comfort next to his head. In rage, he shouted, “STUPEFY!” and the cloaked figure went flying back into the stone wall. He turned to help his brother when he saw the werewolf. “NO!” George roared as he sent a curse flying towards the figure who dodged it before running away with a sickening smile on his face.

Bill was gasping for air and crying out in pain as the blood dripped down his face. The twins knelt down in front of him, trying to reassure him as they tried to close the wounds. “They’re too deep, Fred.” George panicked and turned his attention to their backs, protecting them from any death eater that may try and jump them while they are distracted.

“Don’t give up on us, Bill.” Fred demanded as he worked furiously to close the wounds that the werewolf had given their brother. “Think of Fleur. Think of Mom. They both will kill you if you die on us.”

Bill nodded slightly and handed them a handkerchief to use to stop the bleeding in a muggle way. The twins took turns trying to treat the wounds. George’s heart stopped beating as he heard Bellatrix Lestrange chant from the hills, “Dumbledore is dead!”

“She can’t be serious.” Fred whispered, his voice dropping so that their position stays hidden.

A loud crash and sound of flames filled their ears as Hagrid’s hut burst into flames. Bellatrix’s evil laugh filled the quite hillside before she ran off to cause more chaos and damage around the castle. “Hold on, Bill.” George whispered as they were sure they were alone. “You’re going to make it. You’re going to make it…”

He kept repeating the sentence over and over again. After a while, George wasn’t sure if he was repeating himself for Bill or for himself. He prayed that Hermione was safe. Ron and Lupin made sure the two had it somewhat under control before running back closer to the castle to help the others. “Find Hermione, keep her safe!” George called to Ron who nodded once.

Hermione POV

After she secured the area that Ginny and she were fighting in, Hermione checked the girl’s blue eyes. Ginny was insisting that she was fine, but she had gotten hit in the head by a fly stone, Hermione was worried that the chaser would have a concussion. “Okay. I believe you now. Let’s go and try to find the others. Let’s be quick and quiet.”

“I saw Harry running that way towards Hagrid’s hut.” Ginny nodded her chin towards where a bright flame was filling the sky. “We should go look for him. He was on his own.”

Hermione’s stomach dropped. “Harry is by himself?”

“Always trying to be noble. Of course, he’s by himself trying to fight his own battles.” Ginny took off in a run and Hermione found the adrenaline helping her keep up with the athlete’s long strides.

Instead of finding the boy who lived, a small cry left Ginny’s mouth before she remembered where they were and slapped a hand over it. Her eyes grew large as she saw her brother Bill laying bloody on the ground.

The two girls ran up to the Weasley boys in front of them to help. “What happened?” Hermione asked as she looked deep into George’s eyes.

“Freyir Greyback happened.” His voice sounded hoarse and defeated, not at all like her George that she was so used to. War was having his effect on him and hurting the people that he loved.

“Let’s help you get him back to the castle. Most of the death eaters are retreating now. We can guard you two as you carry Bill. Madame Pomfrey will be able to help him until he can go to St. Mungo’s Hospital.” The Gryffindor placed her hand on the twin’s shoulders and looked at them. “Let’s go now… before he loses too much blood.”

Fred nodded and put on of Bill’s arms around his shoulders while George mimicked the movement. Ginny wiped away a tear that was on her freckled cheek and put her shoulders back. “Let’s go.” She said in a fierce voice.

The dark courtyard was filled with Harry’s sobs as he leaned over none other than Dumbledore, lying dead on the stone ground. Hermione let out a small squeak of disbelief before remembering their mission to get to the hospital wing. “Go. He needs you.” Hermione nodded to Ginny. “We will meet you in the hospital wing.”

Hermione turned to see Ginny disappear towards the sound of the cries. It was Harry.

“Come here, Harry. Come with me.” Ginny grabbed the boy’s arm and helped him up from leaning down over a fallen person.

The twins and Hermione were dragging Bill at a quick pace threw the destroyed corridors of Hogwarts. She felt bile fill her throat as they walked past the open doors of the Great Hall and she saw the emeralds, rubies, and other gems from the house points shattered all over the ground and all the windows behind the head table blasted out by some curse. _Keep going_. She told herself.

They made it to the hospital wing and Madame Pomfrey began working on Bill’s cuts immediately. Lupin was looking at the Weasley boy with pity in his eyes. “It’s not a full moon.” He told Molly Weasley encouraging, his intent was hidden by the phrase, but Hermione knew that Bill would not develop the full traits, only symptoms.

She glanced around the room and saw Neville and Professor Flitwick in other cots, already received treatment and resting. Luna was sitting next to Neville with his hand clutched in between both of hers. For the first time, she did not appear to be in a dream but wide awake and staring with fearful eyes at the Gryffindor boy.

George wrapped his arms around Hermione’s shoulders and let some tears fall into her hair, hidden from the others. She wrapped him in an embrace and comforted him with small circles on his back. He was smarter than false hope, which is all she could give him now. There was nothing she could possibly say that would make this situation okay, besides that Bill was alive.

When the doors of the dormitory flew open, Ginny and Harry joined the group around the hospital cot. “How is Bill?” Harry asked.

Madame Pomfrey was dabbing a vile smelling, green potion over the cuts. “No charm will work on these. I’ve tried everything I know, but there is no cure for werewolf bites.” She was talking to Harry who was looking offended that Bill was still bleeding in front of his eyes.

“But… but… he wasn’t bitten at the full moon.” Ron was gazing at his older brother like he was a lifeline. “Greyback hadn’t transformed, so surely Bill… he has to be okay.”

Lupin sighed and stood up to examine the gashes. “She’s doing everything. Those are still cursed wounds even if Greyback wasn’t transformed into his werewolf form. They are unlikely to ever fully heal.”

“Surely Dumbledore could help us.” Ron said looking at Lupin who was nodding in agreement.

Ginny shook her head and stared at her brother. “Ron… Dumbledore is dead.”

“No!” Lupin roared and looked wildly from Ginny to Harry and back again. The old professor collapsed into the wooden hospital chair and Arthur mimicked the motion, the two looking more defeated than they ever have.

Tonks cleared her throat, “How… how did he die?”

“Snape killed him. I was there, I saw it.” Harry shook his head and had a scowl on his face, thinking back to the events. “He was sick when we arrived at the Astronomy Tower because that’s where the Mark was. I think he realized it was a trap when we heard footsteps running up the stairs. He immobilized me; I couldn’t do anything. I was under the Invisibility cloak—and when Malfoy came through the door and disarmed him more Death Eaters arrived and then Snape… did it.” The boy looked like he had aged years from the events of tonight and Hermione let tears roll down her face, mourning the loss of her headmaster.

“Snape… we all wondered… but Dumbledore trusted him…” Arthur seemed to be arguing with his own thoughts and disbeliefs from the events.

“He was a highly accomplished Occlumens. We always knew that.” Lupin’s voice was harsh as he raked his hands threw his hair.

“But Dumbledore swore he was on our side.” Tonks whispered and furiously wiped a tear that was threatening to spill out of her eye. “I always thought Dumbledore must know something about Snape that we didn’t…”

“I know.” Harry said and everyone turned to him. He awkwardly shifted his weight between his feet before Ginny grasped his hand, giving him the courage to continue. “Snape passed Voldemort the information that made Voldemort hunt down my mum and dad. Then Snape told Dumbledore he hadn’t realized what he was doing, he was really sorry he’d done it, sorry that they were dead.”

Everyone stared at the teenager, stunned.

Lupin was the first to speak as he barked out a cruel laugh. “Dumbledore believed that? Snape hated James.”

“And he didn’t think my mother was worth a damn either, because she was a Muggle-born… he called her a Mud blood.” Harry looked at his shoes.

Hermione felt a stab of pain in her stomach. She knew first-hand what it was like to be called that cruel name. No one who used that term cared for the people who were of muggle decent. George wrapped his arms tighter around Hermione, as if to shield her from the hate.

“How did the Death Eaters even get inside?” Tonks asked.

“They slipped right past us.” Ginny said grimly. “We were doing everything we could. We even had the map to track Malfoy. He had created vanishing cabinets in the Room of Requirements.”

Hermione sniffed and rubbed her eyes, pulling away slightly from George but letting him still have an arm slung around her waist. “They got right past us. He must have been checking whether the coast was clear to let the Death Eaters out.”

“The moment he saw us…” Ron paused and looked at the twins before continuing, “it all went pitch-black from the Purivan Instant Darkness Powder.”

George sank into a wooden chair, defeated. Fred sank to the floor with his head in his hands. Hermione knew they were going to beat themselves up over this. Possibly take the product off of the shelf entirely. She wrapped her hand around George’s shoulder, and he wrapped his hand over hers while he stayed sat in his own thoughts.

Ginny continued to explain the events that led to the attack. “We tried everything. Lumos. Incredio. Nothing would penetrate the darkness. All we could do was grope our way out of the corridor again.”

“All while we were doing this,” Hermione shook her head, thinking back to the feeling of defeat and being outsmarted, “we heard them rush past us. Malfoy could see because of that hand thing he got from Borgin and Burke this Summer.”

Lupin nodded. “Luckily you found us almost immediately so we could find the Death Eaters not long after that. Malfoy obviously did not expect members of the Order to be here.”

The conversation ended with the doors opening up and Fleur rushing over to the hospital bed. “Bill!” She exclaimed and threw her delicate hand over her mouth.

Mrs. Weasley wiped a tear away from her eyes at the sight of the half-Veela. “Bill was so handsome… he was going to get married…”

“What do you mean, going to get married?” Fleur turned her eyes to Mrs. Weasley with rage. “You think Bill will not wish to marry me anymore? You think, because of these bites, he will not love me?”

Mrs. Weasley raised her tear-stained face that now was filled with confusion. “Now, that’s not what I—”

Fleur threw her silver hair back over her shoulder. “It would take more than a werewolf to stop Bill loving me.”

“I thought perhaps—given how—how he—” Mrs. Weasley was rambling and shaking her head.

“You thought… I would not wish to marry him?” Fleur let out a small laugh in disbelief at the thought. “What do I care how he looks? I am good-looking enough for both of us, I think. All these scars show is that my husband is the bravest man I know.” She snatched the extra green ointment from the bedside table and began to join Madame Pomfrey on dabbing the wounds on Bill’s face.

Mrs. Weasley looked at the girl working over her son with the most curious expression on her face. “Our Great Auntie Murial has a very beautiful tiara which I am sure I could persuade her to lend you for the wedding. She is very fond of Bill and it would look lovely with your hair.”

Fleur’s shoulders softened slightly. Hermione knew that she had been waiting for this moment for a long time, acceptance into the Weasley family. “Thank you. I’m sure it will look lovely.”

Tonks was now glaring at Lupin. “You see? She still wants to marry him, even though he’s been bitten! She doesn’t care!”

Hermione let a small smile play on her lips, everyone was now looking at the two fighting Order members with curiosity. “It’s different.” Lupin said while looking tense in his chair. “Bill will not be a full werewolf.”

“I don’t care either! I’ve told you a million times—”

“And I’ve told you a million times! I am too old for you, too poor, and too dangerous. You deserve to be with someone who is young and whole!” Tonks interrupted his rant by crashing her lips onto his own.

Hermione giggled despite the seriousness of the situation that they were in. It was nice to see love conquering all. It gave her hope.


	28. Funerals and Heartbreak

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He was sitting down with his head in between his hands. She crouched down to sit next to him. “How are you holding up, Harry?”  
> “I ended things with Ginny.”  
> “What?”  
> Harry pinched the top of his nose and shook his head. “Don’t you get it. Voldemort uses people as bait. He has already used Ginny as bait before. I won’t let him use her. I would probably consider doing the same, Hermione.”  
> Hermione took in Harry’s words and understood why he was telling her that him and Ginny had to break up. It was a warning. He thought she should end things with George as well. They were going to be leaving soon with no promise of returning.  
> “I need some time. I need to think of what I’ll say.” She bit her trembling lip and looked down at her trainers.  
> “Of course. I’m sure George will figure something is going to happen if Ginny told them that we ended things. I told her why. He’s smart.” Harry shoved his hands into the front of his jean pockets. “Ron will also forgive you. He forgave me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My heart...
> 
> I hope you all enjoy this chapter of Always and Forever! Obviously, things are going to get a lot darker as we enter the events of the Deathly Hallows! I hope you enjoy.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Hermione POV

All lessons and exams were suspended. Most parents were having their children return home, immediately now that Dumbledore was no longer there to keep them safe. The day of Dumbledore’s funeral was a grim affair despite the beautiful weather. Hermione put on her cloak over her black jumper and wiped away a tear that came rolling off onto her cheek. She wanted to check on Harry and see how he was doing before the funeral.

He was sitting down with his head in between his hands. She crouched down to sit next to him. “How are you holding up, Harry?”

“I ended things with Ginny.”

“What?”

Harry pinched the top of his nose and shook his head. “Don’t you get it. Voldemort uses people as bait. He has already used Ginny as bait before. I won’t let him use her. I would probably consider doing the same, Hermione.”

Hermione took in Harry’s words and understood why he was telling her that him and Ginny had to break up. It was a warning. He thought she should end things with George as well. They were going to be leaving soon with no promise of returning.

“I need some time. I need to think of what I’ll say.” She bit her trembling lip and looked down at her trainers.

“Of course. I’m sure George will figure something is going to happen if Ginny told them that we ended things. I told her why. He’s smart.” Harry shoved his hands into the front of his jean pockets. “Ron will also forgive you. He forgave me.”

Hermione nodded, taking in the information. She played mindlessly at the charm bracelet that he had gifted her in their fifth year, wishing she could trade places with that Hermione to not have to worry about disappointing her favorite person.

“What did you tell her, exactly?”

Harry smiled slightly in a sad way that made her think he was woeful of his actions. “She knew it for a noble reason as soon as I began to speak. She didn’t cry at all while I did it. She knew that I will be busy saving the wizarding world.”

Hermione gave her friend a tap on the back. “You’re a good man, Harry. Far too good. I’m going to wait and do it when I’m back at the Burrow. It needs to be done in person.”

He nodded in agreement. “I think that would be best. George is a great guy, Hermione. He’ll wait for you I’m sure.”

“I want him to be happy. I hate seeing him hurt. So, to be the one to hurt him—” She shook her head to stop the thoughts from entering her head.

The Order members were at the funeral. George probably didn’t think anything of Hermione’s sad glances to him. They were at a funeral after all. All she could think of was what she was going to say to George.

When they were packing up to return for the holiday, Hermione took George’s hand. They were getting escorted by the Order members. Ron had broken up with Lavender. Harry had broken up with Ginny. Now it was Hermione’s turn. She was being selfish and didn’t want her time with him to end.

Reaching the protection of the Burrow, made Hermione relax. The youngest Weasley rushed into the house, ignoring her other family members. Ron sighed and followed her in. The mood was heavy, no longer filled with life and excitement. “Would you want to go for a walk?” George asked as he tucked a curl behind her ear.

She smiled sadly. “That would be wonderful.”

They walked around the big yard and didn’t say anything for a while. George is the one who broke the silence. “Ginny told me that Harry broke up with her.”

“Oh.” Hermione said in a dead voice. “Yea… I think she took it okay.”

“I didn’t know if you wanted to talk about that.” He stopped her and looked down at her with warm eyes. “I don’t want to, but I think you have something on your mind.”

“Why are you so smart, George?” Hermione let out a wet tear drop down her cheek. “I don’t know what to say.”

He leaned in and gave her a kiss. She wrapped her hand into his hair and let out a cry. “Jeez—I didn’t realize my kissing skills were so bad, Granger.” The joke sounded sad and lifeless coming out of his mouth.

“George… I love you. But… we can’t… we can’t… be together. Voldemort uses people for bait. I couldn’t fathom having him use you against me. He can’t have access to you. Think of how much danger you would be in if we continue to be together.” Hermione let out another sob.

George wrapped his arms around her. “What if I don’t care?”

“Weasley’s… you’re all the same.” She rested her head against him. “Ginny said the same thing to Harry. I have to help him now. I have to focus.”

“Can we push this off for… one week?” George snuck his fingertips in between her own. A playful tone was in his voice despite the scenario that they were in.

“What?” She looked up at him with an exhausted look.

“Let’s just… enjoy each other. One week. That’s all I’m asking is one week and then you can continue to be a war hero and run off with Harry and Ron.” George pleaded with her, clutching her hands.

“I can give you a day, George. I really need to focus. I have to study. I have to prepare. I have to—" Her heart shattered in half. She wanted to do nothing more than to ignore her responsibilities and run away with George, putting everything behind her.

He put on a large goofy smile and beamed down at her. “Well then let’s make it the best day possible.” George grabbed her arm and pulled her close to him. “I’m asking for a full day too, so today doesn’t count.”

She bit her lip, hiding a smile that was threatening to creep up there. “Fine. Tomorrow. Then I really have to—”

“I know. Don’t worry. I have a wonderful person in my life who is willing to sacrifice her happiness for her friends. I would be a git if I took that out on you. It’s what makes you so wonderful, Hermione.” He tucked a curl behind her other ear as they continued to walk around the property.

George POV

He held Hermione tight into his arms as she slept on his chest. They didn’t even attempt to hide the fact that she was in his room from his mother. Surprisingly, Mrs. Weasley didn’t say a word. This would be the last night for a while that George would get to watch her sleep. She was mumbling about protecting Harry and Ron in her sleep. Whatever task Dumbledore had put them on must be incredibly dangerous if that’s all that is on her mind.

George played with her hair and drew peaceful circles on her back until she drifted into a deeper sleep. He closed his eyes and drifted off himself, thinking of the wonderful girl in his arms.

When they woke up in the morning, George grabbed Hermione’s arm and pulled her out of the kitchen. “I packed us breakfast.” He held up a picnic basket and a blanket that was thrown over his shoulders. “We can’t actually leave the property for a date with all the protection wards up, but I figured that this would be a nice way to have some privacy.”

She beamed up at him and pulled him down to kiss his freckled cheek. “You’re too wonderful, George Weasley.”

“Are you trying to give me a bigger head than I already have? Because if so, it’s working.” He kissed the top of her head before laying out the knit blanket onto the grass. “We have some coffee, orange juice, toast, bacon, and strawberries. A bit random selection but I didn’t want mom helping me put everything together.”

“It’s perfect.” She knelt down onto the blanket and began to nibble on a fresh strawberry.

The two spent the entire morning laughing and kissing in between bites of food. It was if the morning would freeze and they would spend this moment of bliss forever. Sadly, everything must come to an end.

A storm cloud came in and drove them back into the Burrow. They went up to the twin’s room and laid in George’s bed. “What is the plan for you, then.” He couldn’t stop the comment from rolling off of his tongue. Despite how happy he was today, he knew that the time would be up shortly, and she would retreat to herself, locking him out of her thoughts to protect him.

“I thought we weren’t worrying about that today.” Hermione sighed and rolled over, propping her head into her hand so she could stare at him with her big, brown eyes.

He smiled slightly. “I guess I’m just always worried about you is all. I keep thinking that our time is fleeting and you’re going to disappear right in front of my very eyes.”

“You’re very observant.” She bit her bottom lip. “We are going away. I can’t say for what or when, but we are leaving. You cannot tell the others. Only Ginny knows and now you. It needs to stay like that.”

George nodded. “I can do that.” He wrapped his hand behind her head and pulled her down, so their lips met again. “Let’s just enjoy right now.”

Their kisses leading to dinner were sorrowful and filled with tears. Hermione kept sobbing in between their touches and caresses. George kept kissing the tears that were on her cheek away and reminding her that he wasn’t mad and that he would wait for her.

He had to keep reminding her that he would wait for her. She was so perfect that he didn’t want this to be the end of them He wouldn’t allow that.

“George… what if I’m gone for a long time.” She finally cracked, admitting that the Golden Trio would be gone for an extended amount of time.

“As long as it’s before I die, I’ll be waiting for you with open arms. Hell. Even if I’m dead, I’ll be waiting for you on the other side.” He kissed the crease in between her eyebrows. “Hermione, you are a goddess and so intelligent, I would be a fool if I walked away from this because I couldn’t wait this out.”

“It could be a while, George. It’s selfish of me to ask you to wait.”

“Be selfish. I want you to be selfish. I know I’m being selfish, and I want you to wait for me too.” He watched her gaze into his eyes, searching for answers. “I don’t care if you’re gone for weeks, months, years… all of that is so small in the grand scheme of forever.” George winked at her and kissed the tip of her nose.

“What do you know about forever?” She shook her head and rolled her beautiful brown eyes.

“I know that I want to spend forever with you, Hermione. I’m willing to wait forever because I’m all in. I’ve already met the most wonderful witch of my time. I’m not going to let her get away just because there’s a silly war going on.” George dodged her swat.

“Silly war? You’re ridiculous, George Weasley.” She kissed his cheek despite her words and giggled at the boy. “I love you, George. I will wait for you. That’s all I’ll be able to think of is your goofy smile.”

Their stomach’s dropped as Mrs. Weasley called the family down for dinner. Their time of pretending that nothing was wrong was running out. George knew that tomorrow, Hermione would be fully into the Trio’s plan. She would spend every waking moment studying and reading to prepare her for their trip. He made a mental note to try and find research materials on advanced magic that she may not have discovered yet. He kissed her lips once more, tasting the sweet combination that was Hermione before they got up and walked into the crowded kitchen, holding hands throughout the entire meal, refusing to let go.


	29. Order Meetings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Potter is still underage so the Trace is still on him. We are going to have to fly him back to the safe place since we cannot apparate without the ministry knowing where we are taking him.” Their old DADA professor began, glancing around the room with his magical eye. “We will need volunteers who aren’t afraid to put their lives on the line for the cause. We are going to have as many of-age witches or wizards to take Polyjuice potion and disguise themselves as Harry so that we can attempt to get the real Harry past the death eaters to the safe place.”

Chapter 29: Order Meetings 

George POV

Normally, the brave Gryffindor’s laugh would fill his chest with such joy that he couldn’t contain the smile that grew on his freckled face. Now, he had to look away when Hermione would let out a rare laugh inside the walls of the Burrow. It had been weeks since Dumbledore’s funeral and she was spending all of her time with her nose shoved into a book, studying and preparing. She would talk in hushed and worried whispers with Ron and try to show him information from the book, desperately trying to cram information into his skull.

Thankfully, George wasn’t the only Weasley who was miserable this Summer. He was spending more time with Ginny as the two were in the same position of having to end things with their wildly important significant others. She was currently fixing some twigs at the end of the old broomsticks in the shed of the Burrow with him. “George… when do you think that things will go back to normal?”

“Hopefully soon. I don’t know. I don’t really remember the first war that well. Just that mom and dad were always stressed. Charlie and Bill remember it the most.” He polished the handle of the Cleansweep and sighed. “Why do you ask? Are you nervous?”

“No. I am ready for a fight.” Ginny set her shoulders with fierce determination. “I just want Harry back and things to be normal.”

“I know how you feel.” He smiled sadly and ruffled her red hair like he used to do when they were younger. “I love you, Gin. You’ll get through this. You’re a warrier.”

“She is too.” She frowned. “Hermione is so strong. I know that she will be okay. I just know it.”

“Well someone has to take care of the boys.” George tried to joke, but it felt stale coming out of his mouth. He had been worrying about who would be taking care of her while the Golden Trio was leading the war charge.

His younger sister wrapped her freckled arms around him and the two didn’t realize what was happening but someone the both of them had let tears slide, soundlessly down their cheeks. After a while, they didn’t talk about what happened, instead they just went back into the Burrow as if the moment hadn’t happened. It was between the two of them.

That night, the Order was meeting at the Burrow to discuss a plan on getting Harry to the protection of the Order and away from Privet Drive. Mad Eye and Kingsley were standing at the front of the Burrow living room, waiting for everyone to find a seat or spot to listen to the important matter of discussion. Once George and Fred were in a spot in the corner, leaning against the fireplace, it seemed like everyone was in place. “Potter is still underage so the Trace is still on him. We are going to have to fly him back to the safe place since we cannot apparate without the ministry knowing where we are taking him.” Their old DADA professor began, glancing around the room with his magical eye. “We will need volunteers who aren’t afraid to put their lives on the line for the cause. We are going to have as many of-age witches or wizards to take Polyjuice potion and disguise themselves as Harry so that we can attempt to get the real Harry past the death eaters to the safe place.”

Kingsley cleared his throat. “Idealy, it will just be us being over cautious and there aren’t any attacks the night we move him. However, we don’t seem to have the best luck of avoiding his followers. We will pair each fake Harry with a strong and talented fighter. For example, Remus, Mad-Eye, myself, Tonks, and others. So far we know there will be four fake Potters. The more, the better.”

Fred and George looked at each other, knowing what they had to do. Fred turned to the leaders of the Order. “We will volunteer.”

Their mother tried to stifle in a sob from her worried spot in front of their father. Ron and Hermione looked at the twins. “We volunteer, too.” Ron said with a fierce voice. “For Harry. We have to be there for Harry.”

Bill rubbed Fleur’s shoulder lovingly and smiled sadly at her before turning his attention to Kingsley. “Would a Gringott’s Curse Breaker be a strong enough Wizard to escort a fake Harry?”

Remus smiled at Bill. “That’s very brave of you. I do feel that you have proven yourself to the ministry of being someone that the Order would trust Harry with. I think you could make the number of Harry’s to be 5.”

“I vant to volunteer.” Fleur called out as she clutched Bill’s hand. “I am going to be a Weasley, I vant to be as brave as my future husband.”

If someone was keeping track, like he was sure his mother was doing, that meant that if you included Fleur in the count, 5 Weasley’s would be putting their life on the line to rescue Harry. Their father shifted uncomfortably next to his wife and sighed. “Would the more groups of fake Harry’s increase the likelihood that the party is safe?”

“If we run into trouble, yes it would provide us with more man power to protect the Order.” Mad-Eye clunked across the living room to stand in front of him. “I know what you’re thinking Arthur. Yes, a Ministry official like yourself would be deemed important enough to escort Harry.”

“I volunteer.” He said the words with a fierce whisper that made their mother have to wipe away tears in her eyes. All of her sons that were left at home, her future daughter-in-law, and her husband were putting their life on the front line to rescue the Chosen One. 

“Let’s get to organizing the groups. I am going to bring in Mundungus to be a Harry. He told me that he was willing to go undercover for the cause. I will be paired up with him. Someone who is not afraid of a fight, a strong Defense Against the Dark Arts knowledge, and great casting skills. A strong fighter will be needed to be paired up with Shacklebolt.” Mad-Eye was clunking around the living room and waved his wand, lazily in the air, writing down the names of all the volunteers with a magic quill in the air.

“Would I be strong enough?” Hermione’s soft voice asked from her spot next to Ron as they sat on the coffee table in the center of the Burrow living room. George’s heart plummeted as he thought of her being the main target being paired up with such a fierce fighter. “What do you think, Kingsley?”

Kingsley Shacklebolt looked like he only needed a second to ponder the thought before he gave her a single nod. “Hermione, my dear, I was thinking it should be you. You have deemed yourself a bright and powerful witch. You will need to be tight and sharp that night. Since you don’t fly, we will travel by Thestral.”

She nodded her head, sending her curls to bounce up and down in determination. “Let’s get on with pairing the others.” Mad-Eye growled out as the quill began to write. “Nymphadora-”

“Don’t call me that.” Tonks complained from her spot next to Remus.

Mad-Eye ignored her and continued on. “I’m pairing you up with, Weasley.”

“Which one?” Fred, George, and Ron all said at the same time which earned a sob from their mother who was trying to hold herself together. 

“Ron. You’ll travel on a broomstick since you’re a decent flyer. Same with the other two, your groups will travel on broomsticks. The twins you will be paired up with Remus and your father to escort you two.” Mad-Eye clunked over to Bill and Fleur. “Thestral travel. Can you be paired up together without blowing the whole damn mission?”

The couple nodded fiercely. “Ve vill not let you down.” Fleur said as she clamped onto Bill’s hand. “Ve vill protect ‘arry until the very end.”

“Very well. Hagrid will escort Harry. So we have 7 Harry’s. That should work out very well. We will plan on moving him on the 27th, a few days before his birthday. I think it wise that we all rest up and take this quite seriously. The fate of Harry Potter and this damn war rest on this mission to get him here safely.” Mad-Eye grunted before waving his wand and sending the parchment of notes into his ready hands. “I am calling this meeting to be finished.”

“I second.” Remus said warily as he wrapped an arm around Tonk’s shoulder protectively. “We should all prepare.”

Hermione POV

The idea of George being put in harm's way made her want to vomit. She couldn’t push the image out of her head of an ambush and him getting attacked. They hadn’t been talking a lot at the Burrow since it was too painful, the idea of them having to be apart with Voldemort on the rise. However, the night before they were to move Harry was too much for her to be away from him.

Hermione got up from her cot on the floor of Ginny’s bedroom and tip-toed to George and Fred’s room. She pushed the creaky door open as quiet as she could and poked her head into the messy room. Fred was passed out on his twin size bed with his hand flopped over the side, on the floor. She scanned the room to find George. He was curled into a ball on his bed with a look of worry between his eyebrows despite him sleeping. She thought he must be having nightmares just like her, or merely worrying about the journey that was before them.

She crossed over to him and with her finger tips, she smoothed out the skin between his eyebrows. He stirred in his sleep, waking to open his eyes to see who touched him. “Hermione? I must be dreaming.”

She let out a little scoff. “Not dreaming, Georgie.”

“What’re you doing here?” He smiled as he sat up, resting his weight onto his elbows.

“I-- I just am so worried. Would I be able to sleep here tonight?”

Before she even finished the sentence, he was lifting the red and gold quilt up so she could slide in, next to him. “I thought you’d never ask.” He teased her as he hook his arm around her waist, pulling her close against his body. “Everything will be okay, Hermione.”

“I’m worried about you. I want you to be safe.”

“It’ll take more than a little death eater to hurt the Great George Weasley.” He poked her side, making her let out a stifled giggle before he planted kisses on her hair and cheek. “I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too, George. It’s for the best--”

“Shh-- I know. I know. Don’t talk about it. Just let’s go to sleep. We have a big day tomorrow.” He let out a sigh and tucked her head into his body, letting her rest the weight of her thoughts on him.

It only took moments before they both drifted into a peaceful sleep that had no dreams. The next morning, they were woken up by someone laughing in their room. It was Fred. “Can’t stay away from the Weasley men, ‘Mione. I get it.” 

It earned him a wack of George’s pillow that was sent flying across the room by Hermione. “Shove off, Fred.”

“You lot better get moving. Big day today. Big day.” Fred began to whistle as he trotted off to take first dibs of the Burrow shower. 

She turned her attention to George who was staring at her with worry and concern in his eyes. “What?”

“You’re so beautiful, I’m just trying to memorize your face.”

“Don’t talk like something bad is going to happen to me.” She planted her lips on his out of fear that she wouldn’t see him after tonight. 

He seemed to pick up on how frantic this kiss was and he wrapped her tightly in his arms as if George wasn’t ever going to let her go. They didn’t realize how anxious they were about tonight and about the thought of losing the person they loved. However, in this moment, she wished she had a time turner so she could enjoy this time and not feel like she was on borrowed time, as she snogged George and raked her fingers through his messy, red hair. “I love you, Hermione.” He let out in between kisses.

She let a few silent tears drip from her eyes. “I love you too, Georgie.”


	30. Chapter 30: The Seven Potters

Chapter 30: The Seven Potters

George POV:

Landing on the muggle road brought back all of the memories of coming to rescue Harry from the Dursely’s so many years ago. He was thinking about the loud roar of Hagrid’s flying motorbike and wondered how the muggles would react if they saw the strange group of witches and wizards landing in the drive. He glanced over at Hermione and watched as Shacklebolt helped her down from the skeletal, black winged horse that they would be riding tonight. 

Harry wrenched open the door of No. 4 Privet Drive and ran over to his friends where Hermione was sprinting towards the black haired boy. The two Gryffindors collided together in a tight hug that Ron joined in briefly before Mad Eye was ushering the entire group into the safety of the house to discuss the change of plans to Harry.

The Chosen One led the group into the living where the group settled around the room. Fred clapped a hand on the back of Harry’s back as the twins walked by and George did the same. They went to stand next to Hermione and Ron who were standing in the middle of the living room, waiting for Mad-Eye to make the plan clear to the group once again. When Harry laid eyes on Kinglsey Shacklebolt his eyes boggled a little. “Kingsley, I thought you were looking after the Muggle Prime Minister?”

“He can get along without me for one night. You’re more important.” Shacklebolt nodded with a proud smile on his face from his spot leaning against the wall next to Bill and Tonks.

“Harry, guess what?” Tonks shouted with excitement as she wiggled her left hand free from Remus and showed off a glittering ring on her hand. “We officially tied the knot.”

“We wish you’ve been there--” Remus began but Mad Eye grunted.

“All right, all right, we’ll have time for a cozy catch-up later! As Dedalus probably told you, we had to abandon Plan A. Pius Thicknesse has gone over, which gives us a big problem. He’s made it an imprisonable offense to connect this house to the Floo Network, place a Portkey here, or Apparate in or out. All done in the name of your protection, to prevent You-Know-Who getting in at you. Absolutely pointless, seeing as your mother’s charm does that already. What he’s really done is to stop you getting out of here safely.” Mad-Eye clanked his foot around the room, eyeing the group as if to remind them that they all need to be on their A game. “Second problem: You’re underage, which means you’ve still got the Trace on you. It’s the charm that detects magical activity and under-seventeens, the way the Ministry finds out about underage magic. If you, or anyone around you, casts a spell to get you out of here, Thicknesse is going to know about it, and so will the Death Eaters. We can’t wait for the Trace to break, because the moment you turn seventeen you’ll lose all the protection your mother gave you. In short: Pius Thicknesse thinks he’s got your cornered good and proper.”

“So… what are we going to do?” Harry asked as his green eyes darted around the room, looking at the people here to defend him.

“We’re going to use the only means of transportation left to us, the only ones the Trace can’t detect, because we don’t need to cast spells to use them: brooms, thestrals, and Hagrid’s motorbike. Now, your mother’s charm will only break under two conditions: when you come of age, or when you no longer call this place home. So this time, when you leave, there’ll be no going back, and the charm will break the moment you get outside its range. We’re choosing to break it early because the alternative is waiting for You-Know-Who to come and seize you the moment you turn seventeen. The one thing we’ve got on our side is that You-Know-Who doesn’t know we’re moving you tonight. We’ve leaked a fake trail to the Ministry. They think you’re not leaving until the thirtieth. However, this is You-Know-Who we’re dealing with, so we can’t just rely on him getting the date wrong; he’s bound to have a couple of Death Eaters patrolling the skies in this general area, just in case. So, we’ve given a dozen different houses every protection we can throw at them. They all look like they could be the place we’re going to hide you, they’ve all got some connection with the Order: my house, Kingsley’s place, Molly’s Auntie Muriel-- you get the idea.”

Harry nodded and shoved his glasses further up his nose. “Where will I be going?”

“Tonk’s parents. Once you’re within the boundaries of the protective enchantments we’ve put on their house, you’ll be able to use a Portkey to the Burrow. Any questions?”

“Err-- yes. Maybe they won’t know which of the twelve secure houses I’m heading for at first, but won’t it be sort of obvious once fourteen of us fly toward Tonk’s parents?” The Gryffindor boy glanced around the room again, as if questioning why no one else brought up this point before. 

Mad Eye nodded. “I forgot to mention the key point. Fourteen of us won’t be flying to Tonk’s parents’. There will be seven Harry Potters moving through the skies tonight, each of them with a companion, each pair heading for a different safe house.” Moody withdrew a flask from his cloak. 

“No!” Harry bellowed. “No way am I letting anyone put their life in danger for me!”

Hermione rolled her eyes. “I told them you’d take it like this. They didn’t listen.”

Ron laughed. “It’s not the first time we’ve risked our life for you, mate.”

“Well, none of us really fancy it, Harry.” George joked as Harry turned his attention to the twins.

“Yea… imagine if something went wrong and we were stuck as specky, scrawny gits forever!” Fred added which earned a grunt of annoyance from Moody. 

“I won’t let you do this. You need my hair and I won’t cooperate. That's the plan isn’t it?” He crossed his arms in front of his chest and began to turn red in the face with anger.

George laughed again. “Well, that’s the plan scuppered. Obviously there’s no chance at all of us getting a bit of your hair unless you cooperate.”

“Thirteen of us against one bloke who’s not allowed to use magic; we’ve got no chance.” Fred raised his eyebrows at Harry who was turning more angry by the second.

“Funny… real amusing.” Harry opened his mouth to say more but was cut off by Hermione.

“Oh Godric, just let me do it!” She stormed up to the boy and reached up high to reach her hand to his hair and yanked strands of hair from his head.

“Hermione!” Harry protested but the bushy haired witch had already walked over to Moody to hand him the essential part of the Polyjuice potion. “Why would you do that?”

“I’ll always protect you, Harry. We all will. Just let it happen.” She placed a hand on his shoulder to show him that there were no hard feelings in taking the hair for the potion. George felt a twinge of pride in his chest at how confident and calm Hermione was in this moment. 

Once Moody passed the completed potion down the line of people who were going to be the fake Harry’s, they began to take a drink from the flask, grimacing as the Polyjuice potion began to force them to morph into the younger boy in the room. George felt himself shrinking down to be the same height as Harry while Hermione and Fleur were growing to his left. 

When the Polyjuice Potion was done making its changes on the group, George turned to his twin who now looked like Harry. “Wow! We’re identical!” They said in perfect unison together. 

“I dunno… I think I’m still better-looking.” Fred wiggled his eyebrows as he caught his reflection in the mirror against the wall.

Hermione’s version of Harry rolled her eyes. “In your dreams, Fred.”

George’s heart soared as he smiled to the floor while Fleur was complaining about how she looked. “Enough of this!” Moody roared. “Get changed. Don’t forget the glasses.”

Ron looked at his chest in the mirror as he was changing and grunted. “I knew Ginny was lying about that tattoo last year!”

“Oh wow, Harry your eyesight really is awful!” Hermione complained as she put on her own pair of the circular glasses.”

“Alright, we are all ready?” Moody grunted from the front of the group. “Good. The pairs will be as follows: Mundungus will be traveling with me, by broom. Arthur will be with Fred. George will be with Remus. Miss Delacour with Bill on Thestral. Miss Granger with Kinglsey again by thestral. Tonks with Ron.”

“An’ you’re with me, Harry.” Hagrid smiled down at the real Harry. 

“Alright everyone. Let’s go.” Mad-Eye commanded. 

George mounted his broomstick next to Remus who gave him an encouraging smile. “Are you ready, George?”

He nodded in Harry’s form. “Ready as I’ll ever be.” 

On Moody’s mark, they took the sky. Around them there was a roar of Hagrid’s motorbike, flapping of thestral wings, and soaring broomsticks in the night sky. All of a sudden, once they climbed high into the sky, they were surrounded by Death Eaters. There were at least thirty hooded figures, forming a vast circle in the midst of which the Order had risen. 

Blasts of green light shot at them from every angle. “We’ve been compromised!” Remus screamed in fury as he was casting charms towards the hooded figures. “We need to try and lead them away from Harry!”

George nodded once and leaned against the broomstick to stick with his old Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. They were weaving in and out from Order members and Death Eaters, distracting the group long enough to attempt to save Harry some time. George felt his palm fill with sweat as he cast a Stupefy charm at a Death Eater who was dangerously close to them. 

His eyes saw a pack of Death Eaters surrounding Kinglsey and Hermione on their thestral and the anger inside his chest bubbled up. George leaned down on his broomstick to help the two fighting. “No!” Remus called in protest. It was too late, George was helping the group and the Death Eaters separated their group, aiming their attention now towards Remus and George on the broomsticks. They must think that George was the real Harry since he was helping the others. 

A hooded figure flew directly next to the group and waved their wand with a flourish that George thought he recognized.  _ Snape _ . His hood fell off right before he cast a charm towards George who tried to duck but he felt it hit the side of his head before the world went black…

Hermione POV

Kingsley and Hermione clutched their Portkey, a bent coat hanger, as they ran towards the safety of the Burrow. Harry ran towards them and she flung herself into Harry’s arms. She felt herself grow back her curly hair and sighed from the normalcy that it felt like after the horrible night they just had. 

When they let go she saw Shacklebolt point his wand towards Remus. “What were the last words Albus Dumbledore spoke to the pair of us?”

“Harry is the best hope we have. Trust him.” Lupin said calmly. As Kinglsey turned towards Harry who was just getting out of Hermione’s arms, Lupin spoke up. “I’ve already checked him!”

“Alright. But somebody betrayed us! They knew, they knew it was tonight!”

“So it seems. Apparently they did not realize that there would be seven Harry’s.” Remus provided.

“Small comfort!” Kingsley snarled and shook his head. “Who is back?”

“Only, Harry, Hagrid, George, and--” 

She didn’t wait for her old Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher to finish. She was sprinting into the Burrow to see if George was okay. When she laid her brown eyes on his figure on the Burrow couch she let out a pained cry. “George!”

Hermione sank down on the floor in front of the couch as Mrs. Weasley was working frantically on the bloody side of his face. “He lost an ear.” She sniffled out as she worked diligently on cleaning the wound on her son's face.

“W-W-What can I do to help?” Hermione demanded, her hands shaking as they reached for George’s unresponsive ones.

“Help Ginny stop the bleeding while I go get more supplies.” She let out a small cry as she ran off to go to the Weasleys’ supplies.

Ginny had a silent tear running down her face. “I’m glad you’re okay.” She said in a dead voice as her eyes met Hermione’s. 

“I wish I could take his place right now.” Hermione sniffled as she helped Ginny try and stop the bleeding that was coursing down his face and onto his neck and shoulder. “I could kill whoever did this.”

“It was Snape.” Remus grunted as he entered the Burrow with the others who were outside. “It was removed with Dark Magic. At least he is alive.” 

There was a loud clash in the kitchen before they heard Mr. Weasley’s shouts of protests. “I’ll prove who I am after I’ve seen my son! Get back, Kingsley if you know what’s good!” 

Mr. Weasley and Fred both appeared in the living room, looking pale and terrified as they glanced down at the couch where Ginny and Hermione were tending to George. Fred sank to his knees in front of his twins, for the first time, lost for words.

George began to stir and her grip on his hand tightened. “How are you, Georgie?”

“Saintlike.” He murmured.

“What’s wrong with him?” Fred croaked out. “Is his mind affected?”

“Saintlike, Fred. Because…” He pointed a shaky and bloody finger towards his gaping hole where his ear once had been. “I’m holey. Get it?”

Hermione let out a whimper. While Fred shook his head. “Pathetic. Out of all the ear-related humor before you, you go for holey?”

“Ah well. You’ll be able to tell us apart now, Mum.” George smiled up at Mrs. Weasley who was crying and stroking his face. His eyes turned to find Hermione’s and he smiled. “You’re okay?”

She nodded her head. “I wish I could trade places with you.”

“Don’t say that. Ever.” George tightened his grip on her hand. “I would lose both ears to make sure that you’re okay, Hermione.”

She let out a tear and leaned down to kiss his lips, not caring about the others in the living room. Fred chuckled from behind them. “Might as well get a room, you two. One that’s not shared, preferably.”

She could feel George weakly throw a pillow at his twin while he didn’t move away from Hermione’s kiss. Her tears were falling on his face as she leaned down over him. She only got up when Ginny complained that they really needed to finish cleaning up the wound. 

When she began to get up George complained. “Ginny, let me die a happy man with a beautiful girl kissing me.”

Hermione shook her head. “You’re not dying, George Fabian Weasley. Not on my watch.”

The two girls worked diligently while Mrs. Weasley was checking on all the other Order Members. Fred wasn’t leaving George’s side either, not even when his other brothers arrived safely to the Burrow. Bill walked into the room with Ron to check on their brother. He cleared his throat before announcing terrible news, “Mad-Eye is dead.”

Everyone in the room froze, and Hermione glanced at George, thankful that he was here with her still. She let new tears fall down as the rest of the group toasted to his life while she stayed by George’s side, cleaning the Dark Magic wound from the side of his face and vowing to protect him to her best ability. Between cleaning the wound, she kissed his cheek or lips, thanking Godric every time that he was okay. She ignored the looks from Harry knowing that he would disapprove of this when Voldemort could use George against her. She didn’t care. She almost lost him tonight and she wasn’t going to let him forget that she loved him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter broke me a little because I hate seeing George hurt. I hope you enjoy reading. :)


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